Helping Hand....

Galatians 6:1-6 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. [2] Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. [3] If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [4] Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, [5] for each one should carry his own load.
[6] Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

What is the law of Christ?

In the Gospels Jesus was challenged many times on what you needed to do to fulfil the law, or what you had to do to restore your relationship with God and inherit eternal life. His answer was always the same: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and love your neighbour as you love yourself. The law of Christ is worship of God and serving our brothers and sisters through love.

Loving others is about seeking the best for them, of holding them in esteem, of not condemning them for their actions, of not looking down on them when they fall. When you truly love someone then you can never feel superior to them.

When you live in a family of believers it is important to love others. It’s easy when things are going well, but important when they’re not. Actually it’s when your life is falling apart that you need to feel the love of your brothers and sisters the most. If you have fallen away from God, by your actions hurt other people or landed yourself in trouble, that’s when you need your friends to gather round you. You probably don’t need them to tell you what you’ve done wrong, you know, they know – what you need is their help to face up to it and the consequences that follow, to stand with you as you, with their help, start to put things right and restore your relationship with God and with others, acknowledging that they too are fallen people who fail from time to time. What you don’t need are people to crowd around you, taking delight in your failure, their body language telling you that they feel they would never do anything so stupid, reminding you again and again of that mistake.

There’s a story of a man who falls down a hole, and try as he might he can’t get out – the side are too steep and slippery, there are no handholds, and it’s too high to jump. He cries for help. A friend hears him shout, comes along and jumps down into the hole to join him. “Are you crazy!” the man exclaims, “Now we’re both stuck down here.” His friend smiles. “It’s okay,” he says, “I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.”

In another place Paul writes: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

That is the law of Christ.