Burdens

You are responsible for your own life: ‘Each one should test his own actions… for each one should carry his own load’ (vv.4–5). We also have a responsibility for other members of the team: ‘Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ’ (v.2). Paul assumes we all have burdens. The word used means ‘heavy burdens’. It is a wide-ranging term that includes suffering, illnesses, physical disabilities, sorrows, grief, worries, responsibilities (financial and other), temptations, errors, doubts, weaknesses and failures (moral and other). In other words, it includes any and every load that is hard to bear.