“Go carry Grandma’s suitcase in.”
“Help your coach carry those bats.”
“Please help me carry in the groceries.”
“Help carry each other’s burdens. In this way you will follow Christ’s teachings” (Galatians 6:2).
Wait, that last one didn’t sound like something you hear every day. Yet God tells you that you do need to help other people carry their troubles. Maybe that means you help a friend with his homework. Or maybe you help your classmate pick up her books after someone knocked them out of her hands. Or maybe it means visiting people in nursing homes and sitting with them because they are lonely. Or listening to and praying for a friend whose parents are getting a divorce.
One thing you shouldn’t forget, though, is that your family and friends have been told to help you carry your burden too. You don’t have to be strong all the time or hide what you are feeling. When you share the things that make you sad or scared, other people get to follow Christ’s teachings too.
In Ecclesiastes 4:10 God reminds us, “If one falls, the other can help his friend get up. But how tragic it is for the one who is all alone when he falls. There is no one to help him get up.” Thanks to your family and friends, you are surrounded by people whom you get to help, and who are ready and willing to help you too.
Chomp on this!
What problem or fear or concern do you have that you’ve been keeping to yourself?
Say a prayer as a family and be sure to add the concerns that you have just shared with each other.
