Restoration of the Brethren

Galations 6:1-6


1....Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.


We can see here that we are instructed to restore our brethren who are in error, and to do it gently. This means we may not pounce on him/her or talk about him/her, but should do it in meekness, and gentleness. In order to do it that in meekness, and gentleness, we may need to pull this one aside and let them know what has been observed, and explain why it is not acceptable and pray with that one. But this is to be done in love, and not in abasement. In a spirit of unity.

Also note, that this scripture has a warning with it, as well. We need to be careful and not be pulled into temptation. This is why once we know of the sin our bretheren has committed, we need not go into the details of that sin, lest we be tempted as well. And be careful of being judgemental here, or as the Word of God warns us, we will be judged according to our own judgement of others.



2....Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.


Here we are told to carry each other's burdens in order to fulfill the law of Christ. Now which law is this? Are we not under grace? Well, in Matthew 5:43-44 it says:

"Ye have heard the it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you:"

so we need to love those who oppose us, and that love also towards those in the body of Christ as well.

There is also a verse which says to "love thy neighbor as thyself," and with that we must love our brethren as if they are us.... We do love and protect ourselves and that we should do to our bretheren when they fall.



3....If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.


This takes care of the issue of "we are better than they," or "I can't believe they would do such a thing." If we think for one minute that we are better than this one who is down, we are deceiving ourselves....God said it, not me. He is telling us "that for the Grace of God, go I." We really need to look at this carefully.



4....Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,


This is so well put not much need be said here, except that, instead of judging our sisters and brothers, we should be checking our own lives and "cleaning our own skeletons from their closets." If we first make our own lives as holy as we can, allowing the Holy Spirit to come in and weed out our own iniquities (wrong-doings), we will then not be comparing ourselves to others. Now, most of us do not compare ourselves to others who have fallen and say we are worse....we like to say: " I am glad I am not like this one, or that one." So the Word of God here is saying to take care of our own faults and not to compare ourselves to others.



5...for each one should carry his own load.


6...Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.



So if we learn something good from our instructor, should we keep it to ourselves? Not according to God's Word. We are asked to share it with our instructor. Why should we do that? Could it be that maybe our instructors could use some encouragement in their efforts to teach us???



Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to love each other with a Holy love, and when we see one falling or entering into temptation, instead of battering that one, or talking to each other about that one, we need to pull together and bring God's love to that one and instruct that one and show a unity in Christ that will be so necessary in lifting Jesus higher. And if we will show our love, the sinner's will see this and wonder at the love that only Christ and His grace can bring.



Let us pray; Lord Jesus, we come to you as your humble servants. Cleanse us from all pride, and fill us with your love. Let us, Lord show our bretheren the same grace and patience in their walk and growth that you have shown us. And Lord, above all things, let us love one another as you loved us and be willing to lift up the fallen one and hold that one up until he/she is strong enough to stand on his/her own. Let us, Lord love that one, and let us get back to the business of ministering to others. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Email: denimandlace2@webtv.net