Galatians 6:3 Commentary

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Galatians 6:3

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Paul raises this matter – the integrity of our self-evaluation – in the context of bearing one another’s burdens. We might assure ourselves that we are fulfilling the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves, but if this does not result in some practical expression it is not really love. We may continue to think of ourselves as those who love our fellow believers, and yet the Lord brought someone into our lives who has a need which we could help with, and yet we do nothing. Self-delusion makes us capable of thinking in very unrealistic terms about ourselves, and letting a gap open up between the way we view ourselves and how we act. The remedy for this is for us to make a more searching inspection of our own hearts than we do of others, and certainly there is no heart more accessible to us than our own.

Application

What prevents a man from bearing his brother’s burden? Paul identifies the key factor. It is that he sees himself as independent of other believers, when in fact Christ has placed us in the same body and made us dependent on each other. He is too important in his own eyes, too great to be able to stoop in order to bear another’s burden either physically or metaphorically. There is a preoccupation with self that makes it appear to us to be below our dignity to pick up burdens which don’t actually belong to us, for it seems a matter of shame to a proud man to have to serve others. In his view the mark of greatness is to be served by everyone else and to serve no one but himself. But actually it is our glory to serve and it is a characteristic of love that it is humble and is not ashamed of service.

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Galatians 6:3 Commentary and Bible Study