Burden Bearing

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. See that some burdens are God-given and good, meant to develop us.
2. Distinguish the three kinds of burdens: those we bear alone, those we share, and those we cast on the Lord.
3. Resolve the apparent conflict between "bear one another's burdens" and "each one will bear his own load."

Thesis

Burdens are not all curses; God uses some to strengthen us, commands us to share others, and invites us to cast on Him the ones no man can carry — and wisdom is knowing which burden is which.

Burden

We treat every burden as an enemy to be escaped. Scripture treats burdens more carefully than that. Some are sent to make us strong, and to dodge them is to stay weak. Some belong to our brother, and to ignore them is to fail the law of Christ. Some are too heavy for any man, and to carry them ourselves is to be crushed under what God offered to take. A Christian who cannot tell these apart will shoulder what he should hand to God and hand off what he was meant to carry. This lesson sorts the load.

Introduction

The value of burdens needs to be learned. God Himself lays some burdens on us, and if they come from God they are good, for "every good thing given... is from above" (James 1:17). Boles shows first how burdens help us, then sorts burdens into three kinds — those we bear alone, those we bear for others, and those we cast on the Lord. Paul gathers the whole subject into a few verses: "Bear one another's burdens... for each one will bear his own load" (Gal. 6:2, 5).

I. How Burdens Help Us (James 1:17)

Rightly received, a burden develops the best in us; life is made strong and useful by what it is made to carry. A load steadies as well as taxes — like the old picture of men fording a swift stream who carry a heavy stone to keep their footing in the current; the weight that seems to oppress is the weight that holds them down against being swept away. A young couple is matured by the burden of raising children; responsibility makes them into something they would never have become at ease. God does not always remove the weight, because the weight is doing a work in us that ease never could.

II. Three Kinds of Burdens (Gal. 6:1-5; 1 Pet. 5:7)

1. Burdens we must bear alone (Gal. 6:5). "Each one will bear his own load." Some things no one can carry for you:

• the choice between right and wrong,
• the consequences of your own sin,
• the burden of your own death,
• the burden of standing in the eternal judgment. These are personal and non-transferable. No parent, friend, or congregation can repent for you or answer for you before God (2 Cor. 5:10). This burden you carry alone — which is exactly why it must be carried to Christ.

2. Burdens we bear for others (Gal. 6:2). "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ." God expects the strong to help the weak (Rom. 15:1). We do it by:

• strengthening one another in prayer,
• cooperating in the work of the church,
• sympathizing with the suffering,
• comforting the bereaved. Live so that people are glad you are among them and feel the loss when you are gone. This is not optional kindness; it is the law of Christ laid on every member.

3. Burdens we cast on the Lord (1 Pet. 5:7; Ps. 55:22). "Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you"; "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you." Some burdens only God can bear:

• First become acquainted with the Lord, for you will not cast your cares on a stranger.
• Bear your brother's burdens, and you will find the Lord bearing yours.
• He alone is able to carry what would crush us. It is the sweetest thing in life to lay these down on Him. Learn the camel's habit: it kneels in the evening to have its load lifted off. Kneel, and let the Lord take what you were never built to carry.

III. Resolving the Paradox (Gal. 6:2, 5)

The two commands are not in conflict because they speak of two different loads. The word in verse 2 is the crushing, occasional weight too heavy for one — that we share. The word in verse 5 is the soldier's own pack, the personal responsibility every man answers for — that no one can carry for him. So we carry our own accountability before God, we help carry our brother's crushing load, and we cast on the Lord the weight beyond us all. There is a burden for the self, a burden for the brother, and a burden for the Lord, and each goes where it belongs.

Application

Sort your load this week. Are you crushed under something God offered to carry? Then stop hauling it and cast it on Him in prayer. Are you ignoring a brother bent under a weight you could help lift? Then go and fulfill the law of Christ. Are you trying to hand someone else the burden of your own obedience, your own repentance, your own answer to God? That one is yours; carry it straight to Christ. Most of our exhaustion comes from carrying the wrong burdens — the Lord's and our brother's on our own back, while neglecting the one that is truly ours.

Conclusion

Not every burden is an enemy. God strengthens us by some, commands us to share others, and stands ready to carry the rest. The strong Christian is not the one with no load but the one who has learned where each load belongs — bearing his own accountability, lifting his brother's weight, and casting on the Lord what only the Lord can hold.

Invitation

The heaviest burden any soul carries is the guilt of unforgiven sin, and it is the one burden you cannot lay down yourself — but Christ will take it. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). He calls you to believe, repent, confess Him, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38), and to rise with the load gone. If you are a weary Christian crushed under cares, cast them on Him today. Come while we sing.

Word Study

• "Burden" (v. 2) (Gal. 6:2, Gk. baros): a heavy, crushing weight — the load too great for one, which we are to help carry.
• "Load" (v. 5) (Gal. 6:5, Gk. phortion): a man's own pack or assigned cargo — personal responsibility, which each must bear himself. The change of word dissolves the apparent contradiction.

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