Read Together: Galatians 6:1–5

Galatians 6:1–5 provides an opportunity to reflect more on the compassion and humility that should be a part of our church community. As you read and discuss this passage with your family or with others, be sure to reflect on the key points Paul makes:

(1) Those who are spiritual (i.e., those who are led by the Spirit) should humbly and carefully help restore those caught in sin. This was probably a rebuke to many in the Galatian church who thought the “spiritual” attitude was to keep away from believers who had fallen into sin. Of course, wisdom is needed in applying this, as the second part of verse 1 indicates.

(2) We should bear each other’s burdens. These burdens include the idea of being caught in sin, but also go beyond it to include the cares and burdens of life that we can’t carry alone.

(3) We should examine ourselves and test our deeds and attitudes, not by comparing them with those of others, but by coming to terms with what they really are in light of God’s standards.

(4) We must remember that there is a load that we alone are responsible to carry: our eternal destiny (Gal 6:5). In the end, there will be a day of reckoning where we will be held responsible for how we have lived and responded to Christ. No one can carry this load for us. We alone are finally responsible before God for our conduct in this world.

Discussion Questions

1.    How should we respond to people who are caught in sin?

2.    How do we fulfill the “law of Christ”?

3.    What is the “load” we alone can carry?

Ideas for Younger Kids

• Read Galatians 6:2 with your kids. As an object lesson, fill a backpack or box with heavy items that you know will be difficult for your kids to carry on their own. Ask them to try to carry it. Then offer to help them. Make the point that we need help carrying heavy loads. As followers of Jesus, we need to help each other when we are caught in sin or going through a trying time.
• Yet, also highlight verse 5. There is a load/burden we alone must carry: our standing with God. Take time to remind your kids about how one day we will all stand before God. What matters is how we have responded to God: have we trusted in Jesus? Have we repented of our sin? No one can trust in Jesus for us or repent for us. This is a “load” we must carry ourselves.

Memorization: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Song: Listen to “The Love of God” (by Frederick M. Lehman, performed by The Worship Initiative).

Pray Together

Focus your prayer time together on the following areas:

• Praise the Lord that he is a jealous God who shows his people compassion, seeks out the wandering, and disciplines those who give way to sin.
• Take some time to examine yourselves and confess your sin before the Lord. Confess before God our pride in comparing ourselves with others instead of examining ourselves in light of God’s Word.
• Pray that our church community would be marked by this kind of compassion and care. That we would carry each other’s burdens and be willing to confront sin in each other’s lives to promote restoration.

Go Together

• The key question that arises from Galatians 6:2 is “how do we practically bear one another’s burdens?” Take some time to discuss this question with your family or another believer. Make it concrete by thinking of someone you know who needs extra care, compassion, encouragement, or even a gentle confrontation for sin in their life. Then, go from the “who” to the “what” and come up with a plan to help them carry their load this week. Even a simple encouraging note can go a long way in many cases.