Burden sharing

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. - Galatians 6v2

For each one shall bear his own load. - Galatians 6v5

I am really glad that the NKJV translators made this slight change of word choice. Contextually, it is clear that the KJV translator’s choice to use “burden” in both verses is acceptable, but since there are two different Greek words, using two different English words makes sense as well.

Paul has changed gears slightly here. He has moved on from dealing with the legalizers to begin teaching on grace living. Chapter 6 is a series of instructions on how we take the lessons learned and apply them to daily living.

In these two verses we have some practical suggestions. In verse 6 the word translated “load” is talking about regular tasks or services. All of us have to do our own stuff. We have to deal with the every day issues. I don’t presume to know Greek by any means, but the lexicon says that this word is derived from a word meaning “invoice.” Maybe we can say that verse 6 describes the fact that we all have to “pay our daily bills” as we go through life. We are responsible for the everyday stuff that we encounter.

Now let’s look back to verse 2. “Bear on another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” These are the burdens that press us down. These are the heavy loads that we encounter. In the attempt at an analogy above, these are those unexpected “bills” that come along that we are not ready for. These are the pressures that are just too much to bear alone. When these times come, we of course should, “take it to the Lord in prayer,” but at the same time we need others to jump in and help shoulder the load.

In other words, we just need to deal with the daily loads and allow others to do the same. However, when the load gets heavy and we are feeling pressed down we need to share the load with others. When someone comes to us with a load like that, we fulfil the love of Christ by jumping under the load with them and shouldering the burden.