Between Two Gardens
Have you ever considered that life as we know it is living between two perfect gardens? The Bible begins and ends with a garden. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden, in perfection. And in Revelation 22, we see Eden restored. Finally, we will return to the garden with its tree of life and where there is no more curse (Rev. 22:1-5).
In the meantime, we live in imperfection. We grieve. We worry. We stumble. Indeed, this world’s troubles are never-ending. This is precisely why our Christian community of brothers and sisters is so important. While we wait for the promise that the garden will flourish once again, we must labor alongside each other in prayer, encouragement and support.
In Galatians 6:1-5, Paul teaches that to do this, we must maintain a healthy heart. In his letter to the churches at Galatia, he writes of a destructive issue in these churches. His final instruction in verse 26 of Chapter 5 is, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Clearly, there was a divisive spirit in the churches. Paul knew that if left unbridled, it would consume them.
To address this, Paul emphasizes what a “healthy” heart is. In Chapter 6, verse 2, he says: “Bear one another's burdens.” The rest of his teaching in this passage centers around this directive as he describes a healthy heart as a burden bearing heart with five main characteristics: (1) informed and empowered by the Holy Spirit (v. 1); (2) gentle and not judgmental in light of a brother’s sin (v. 1); (3) honest about its own condition (v. 3); (4) aware of its spiritual responsibilities (v. 4,5) ; and (5) eager to obey the commands of Jesus (v. 5).
What does it mean to be informed and empowered by the Holy Spirit? A person who is spiritual walks by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. A “walk” in the Bible is often a metaphor for practical daily living. Our lives between the two perfect gardens is a journey, and we are to walk it—we are to make consistent forward progress. To walk in the Spirit means that we yield to His control, we follow His lead, and we allow Him to exert His influence over us. It gives me great comfort to know that when it comes to my heart health, God’s own Spirit is at work within me in my daily living. I must simply yield to His lead.
A spiritually healthy heart is also gentle and not judgmental. Paul’s example of someone being caught in a transgression has happened to all of us. In the context of the churches in Galatia, Paul may have been referring in part to those causing divisions in the church. Paul directs them to bear the burdens of their brothers’ failures, not add to them.
We are to restore our brothers and sisters in a spirit of gentleness. “Restore” here is a medical term in Greek used to describe setting a broken bone or dislocated joint. God wants us to be ready to heal, not judge one another. We are to come alongside someone and help them bear the weight of their weakness.
A healthy heart is also honest about its own condition (v. 3). Paul makes it clear that none of us is righteous in all we do. None is above sin. A burden-bearing heart, a heart that is ready, with gentleness, to help shoulder the weight of a brother or sister's struggle, is a humbled heart. A burden-bearing heart knows of its own “nothingness” because of its sin. If we are tempted to gossip, ignore or judge those who transgress in sin, Paul’s words remind us to carefully evaluate whether we feel that we are better than others who struggle with sin.
A burden-bearing heart is also aware of it spiritual responsibilities. Paul tells us in verse 4 that if we want to rejoice about where we are spiritually, we should do so based on a careful examination of our faith and walk, not on our comparisons and judgements of others.
One ready to bear the burdens of struggling brothers and sisters understands what God has called him to personally. And that person knows he is accountable to God. That's what Paul means in verse 5, “For each will have to bear his own load.” While we will each be accountable to God for our own sins, we will also be accountable for whether we helped bear the burdens of others’ struggles. Did we bring restoration and healing? Or did we bring indifference? Or judgement?
Lastly, Paul says the burden-bearing heart is eager to obey Jesus’ commands. In verse 2 of Chapter 6, Paul wrote, “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Paul wants the churches in Galatia to understand what it means to fulfill the law of Christ, but what is it? In Chapter 5, verses 13 and 14, Paul writes, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love: this is the Law of Christ. As Jesus commanded His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34).
The churches in Galatia were being led astray about the idea of obeying God. Their desire to follow God’s commands was not wrong. In fact, a burden-bearing heart is driven by the desire to obey all that Jesus commands. It is that Spirit-inspired love that should inspire us to care for one another, especially in our struggles against sin.
Living in imperfection while we wait for the restoration of perfection in the garden is precisely why Paul’s directives in Galatians are so important. It is our duty as believers to help bear one another’s burdens. When someone staggers, we help steady the load. If he is straining, we help bear the burden. And if he stumbles, we lift him up. Helping fellow believers carry the weight of their worldly troubles is one of the primary responsibilities of every Christian.
However, churches today sometimes imitate culture and its “me first” agenda and emphasis on self-love rather than the “one another” commands of Scripture. And thus, we don’t bear one another’s burdens as we should.
Do we want to fulfill the moral requirements of the Law? Then, love our neighbor, we must. How do we love him? By bearing his burdens. His transgressions, yes, but also his spiritual, emotional, and other encumbrances.
If we do that faithfully, our own burdens won’t seem so heavy. And what’s better is that we’ll find it easier to keep our focus on the garden of perfection to come, despite living in an imperfect space between two perfect gardens.
~ Nicole Bryan has been a member of LIFE Fellowship for over 10 years and holds a M.A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. She and her husband Callan have three children.