“Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of
Christ…But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden…
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap…And let us not be weary in
well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:2-9)
Paul goes into a lot of detail here and I have just skimmed
the surface. So he’s saying Christ expects us to help one another, strengthen
and uplift another, but we each are responsible for our own works. Whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap,
My husband used to say that more damage is done by do
gooders than if they had minded their own business. And we hear these stories
every so often about someone who sees a scuffle and runs to help. They disable
the undercover police officer who is trying to arrest the bad guy and the bad
guy gets away. Or someone is whacking a child in the back trying to dislodge something
the child is choking on and they try to rescue the child.
I myself have been guilty of more minor infractions. Like while
feeding a stroke patient I separated out the part of the meal I didn’t like
only to find out that was her favorite part. One time I decided that someone
that had just returned from the hospital would enjoy someone to talk to for an
hour when what they really needed was someone to clean their bathroom. I am sure
that each of us have many examples of doing good that has gone wrong.
It helps to pray about things before helping someone or ask
the individual what they need, but there is not time for that when you think someone
is being hurt. This is probably why we also hear of people being mugged or even
killed and passer bys pay no attention. It’s a difficult situation and the
Spirit will guide us in making these split second decisions if we are in tune.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread…because they see
the big picture. So help other, but pray about it first.
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