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Caring For One Another

February 8, 2015 Series: Spiritual Disciplines

Passage: Galatians 5:25– 6:5

How do we care for one another yet are not busybodies or aloof?

Background
Paul's letter to the Galatians was a declaration of freedom - rescued from sin (salvation) by the grace of God, not by works. Mere human effort cannot lead to a change in heart. Sanctification is also only by grace as it is the Spirit that gives us the godly desires for the fruit of the Spirit and willingness to crucify the flesh (v24). We are to walk in keeping with the Spirit, and we are called to Spirit-empowered obedience.

How you should not treat each other (v25-26)
We are not to be conceited or proud, which leads to argument. A conceited (vain glory) person has a strong need to prove themselves and their worth. To provoke often stems from a sense of superiority while to envy is a reflection of inferiority and tends to result in gossip to bring the other person down. Both the act of provoking and envying are out of self-centredness. We ought to remember that our identity is founded only in Jesus Christ.

How you should treat/care for one another (6:1-5)
Caring may be a call to ministry of burden-bearing for a burden is a load too heavy for a single person to carry. By this, he/she who cares behaves like Christ in His expression of love. It is the responsibility of the individual, however, not to over-estimate what they have accomplished, as what a conceited person would do, but rather boast only in God (v4). Conceit cuts people from being involved in the lives of others.
Inasmuch as we are to help one another, each of us are accountable to God for our own actions. Those who sin need to be restored while those who are in step with the Spirit are to restore, and to do so with meekness and gentleness because we remember our own tendency to fall.

How then to care for one another
1. Caring for one another in humility, and allowing people to care for you
2. Balance community and individual responsibilities. The final burden of accountability on judgement day cannot be shared, except with Christ who has borne our biggest burden of sin, and so we can follow Him for the burden we now face is comparatively light.

More in Spiritual Disciplines

February 15, 2015

Leaving A Legacy Of Service

February 1, 2015

Giving God's Way

January 25, 2015

Storm The Gates of Hell