1. We Are to Bear One Another’s Burdens (Am I My Brother’s Keeper?) Lesson 11

2. Brief Review In this series of lessons we are seeking to answer the question, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” We have already discovered the answer to this question is, “Yes! We are our brother’s keeper!” Most certainly, because we are God’s family, we have been given the responsibility by God to care for one another’s emotional, spiritual, physical, and even financial needs.

3. Brief Review We are to love one another. We are to be at peace with one another. We are to give preference to one another in honor. We are to refuse to judge one another. We are to edify one another. We are to receive one another. We are to admonish one another. We are to show the same care for one another. We are to serve one another. We are not to bite and devour one another.

4. We Are to Bear One Another’s Burdens The Burdens We Bear We Can’t Do It Alone How to Bear One Another’s Burdens

5. The Burdens We Bear Do you remember how you felt when you first obeyed the Lord? (Acts 8:30-39) Most probably when you came up out of the waters of baptism you felt free, fearless, fervent, fired-up, and fantastic! But then, life happens. There are many circumstances that come about that seek to rob of us our enthusiasm for the Lord.

6. The Burdens We Bear These joy-robbing circumstances are called burdens and sometimes they can be debilitating to our faith. The writer of the book of Hebrews doesn’t use the word “burdens” but rather uses the descriptive word “weight” to describe these joy-robbing circumstances. (Hebrews 12:1,2)

7. The Burdens We Bear The burdens we seek to carry about that rob of us our joy come in the form of: –Failures –Frustrations –Fearfulness –Faint-Heartedness –Faithlessness –Fracturedness –Fragility

8. We Can’t Do It Alone So we take our burdens (this weight), and we seek to carry them about all by ourselves because we believe that is what a good Christian is to do. As a result, many individuals often times suffer in silence until their burdens get so heavy that they just give out and give up in their walk with God.

9. We Can’t Do It Alone A wonderful teaching story about the tragedy of trying to carry all the burden alone is found in the Old Testament story of Moses. Moses was given the responsibility by God to deliver the people of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. Sadly, Moses thought that he had to see to every detail of that daunting task by himself. Finally, his father-in-law Jethro set him straight. (Exodus 18:13-18)

10. We Can’t Do It Alone There are two statements that Jethro speaks to Moses in this matter that ought to be remembered by us every time we attempt to carry our burdens by ourselves: –“The thing that you do is not good.” (vs.17) –“You are not able to perform it by yourself.” (vs. 19) Truly, it is not good for us to try to bear our burdens by ourselves, and it should be noted that we will not be able to do it and live joyously at the same time! This is why we have been commanded to bear one another’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)

11. How to Bear One Another’s Burdens Share- As was stated earlier, many suffer in silence with their burdens. We cannot expect to bear one another’s burdens unless we share them. Care- If someone opens themselves up to us about the burdens they are carrying, we ought to show loving care for them in return. (I Thessalonians 5:14; Hebrews 12:12)

12. How to Bear One Another’s Burdens Be There- Beyond just sharing and caring, we must, in a tangible way, be there for others and actually bear their burdens! We can do that through: –Positive words (Ephesians 4:29) –Prayer (Matthew 7:7,8) –Promising continued concern –Pondering together Biblical solutions to the problems being faced –Promoting faithfulness –Performing helpful works