Last week, Pastor Keller explained the sermon text from Galatians by telling us that we have been set free from the Law by the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the applications that he used was that he was cooler because he wore a white robe instead of a black one. Well, little does he know, I wear the black robe because black is supposed to be slimming and I need all the slimming I can get.

Yes, we have been set free from the law. This week the sermon text from Galatians reminds us how we are to use that freedom won for us by our Savior. The freedom we have to serve God can be summed up in Jesus’ words, “Love God and love one another.” Our text today focuses specifically on loving each another by carrying each other’s burdens and sharing our blessings.

1. Carry Each Other’s Burdens

The two great enemies of love are self-centeredness and arrogance. These two great destroyers of love dominate our sinful natures. If my focus is squarely on me and I think that I am so great, how can I truly love others? I think this is most evident inside the home. What truly happens behind the closed doors of your house? Is there love? Is there sacrifice? Or has self-centeredness and arrogance ruined the harmony that God desires for your family?

Men who act like tyrants in the home boss their wives and children around. Lazy men, who expect everyone else in the house to take care of their every need, display this self-centeredness and arrogance with astounding lack of guilt and shame. Wives who selfishly seek their own agendas at the expense of the rest of the family tear down family harmony. They strive to serve themselves and really no one else. Teenagers who fail to see their responsibilities in the home disgrace the gift of a family that God has given to them. Children who selfishly disobey mom and dad because they only want for themselves can make family unity impossible. Yes, the home can be a hotbed of self-centeredness and arrogance.

These two things are an attitude of the heart. Along the way, sinners allow selfishness and pride to take root in their very being. And these sinful ways produce sinful actions. Selfishness and arrogance manufacture hurtful and angry words. They create laziness and disrespect. Frankly this is disgusting to God. Our families are such a blessing from our loving Father in heaven, and far too often we have spit on that gift. How dare we? For the sins that are committed behind the closed doors of our homes, we deserve a fiery hell for all eternity!

God has told to us carry each other’s burdens. But this is not a load that we pick up ourselves. It is load that is placed onto us by our Lord. The word picture in the Greek is of a backpack loaded on a soldier as he marches to war. We are truly marching to war against the great enemies of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. As we walk side by side with our fellow soldiers of the cross, we are to help one another carry the burdens before us.

Alone, we could never do this. For we are far too weak, and we have fallen way too short. But Jesus makes it possible because he carried our load of sin for us. He embraced the Law of God and he kept every single one of the commandments perfectly. There was no hint of self-centeredness or arrogance in the Savior, especially as he took our sins to the cross. There, in humility, he gave his very life so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life. Our Lord and Savior rose from the dark tomb on Easter Sunday so that we could be righteous before God, so that we could be set free to love one another and carry each other’s burdens. Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! What great joy that brings to the heart of a believer!

We are set free to serve God! We are set free to carry each other’s burdens without thoughts of self, without destructive pride. Paul’s main application is that we are to do this by gently restoring those who fall into sin. As we apply this to our home life, moms and dads are to model the love of Jesus with their children. With compassion and understanding, moms and dads are to admonish each other and then forgive each other. Moms and dads are to model the love of Christ by pointing out their children’s sins with gentle humility and forgiving their children as our Heavenly Father has forgiven all of us. This is how we carry each other’s burdens. However beware the trap of sinful pride. Paul wrote that, “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Fight off the temptation to think, “I can’t believe my child did this. I would never have done this to my parents,” and let the love of Christ guide you. For the love Christ changes our hearts and minds as we carry each other’s burdens.

2. Share Your Blessings

As we strive to love one another as Christ has commanded us, the Apostle Paul gives us more direction. He lets us know that since we have been set free, we are to share our blessings with others. He begins by making the following point, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.” You see, this point was not obvious to all during Paul’s day. Priests and religious leaders received their income mainly from taxes that were taken from the people. Now, Christians support their teachers and preachers with their gifts of love.

Paul did not only have money in mind here. He said that the people of Galatia were to share all good things with their instructors who taught them the word. This means that the believers were to give their support, encouragement, prayers, and understanding. I praise God that this congregation of God’s people does that with great regularity and it humbles me all the time.

Paul also says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” That is what is so great about being set free by Christ. We have been brought into God’s family. Awakened from our spiritual slumber, we have a new attitude as children of God. No longer is our focus on ourselves. Our thoughts and actions are to center on those around us. We are to look for the times and places where we can share our blessings with others, especially our fellow believers. Just look around you and see how often God gives you the chance to share your abundant blessings. You have been blessed greatly, each and every one of you.

But beware of self-centeredness and arrogance. Paul tells us that we will reap what we sow. If you are planting only to please your sinful nature, then you will sow destruction. Again this plays out in our home lives often, doesn’t it? We have to wonder where the faith is of those who treat their family members so terribly. They definitely aren’t bearing fruit in their freedom. Husbands and wives, moms and dads, teens and children, sow to please the Spirit. Give generously to each other, with no thought of yourselves, and don’t grow weary of doing good to your family. When you do this, your faith is evident and the result of that faith is eternal life.

Yes, self-centeredness and sinful pride are great barriers that keep us from showing love to one another. They move our sinful natures to boast in ourselves. And so let us pray with the Apostle Paul, “May [we] never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The sacrifice that Jesus made for us has set us free. May we use our freedom in Christ to love one another. “Peace and mercy to all” of you. Amen.