By Katy Mariotti

Bearing Burdens

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:2 English Standard Version

My daughter has never been very snuggly, even since she was a baby, so I cherish the moments when she is, such as this moment I snapped a picture of when she put her legs on mine. I have to admit that she’s also getting big enough now that when she leans on me sometimes her elbows will dig in just in the wrong place and it hurts. And even my son, who is younger than she and DOES like to be snuggled and even carried occasionally still, is starting to feel heavy, which I hate. But as I want to hold on to these times, I will always make the snuggling work, and I will carry my son as long as I can.

We are called in the Bible to bear one another’s burdens and lift each other up. Sometimes this is easy, because when we love people we want to lift them up. But sometimes it’s harder. Sometimes we don’t want to carry someone else’s weight, physically or emotionally, because we are feeling so weighed down ourselves. But that’s the beauty of relationships. One person is not always doing the heavy lifting, and we can take turns lifting one another up. Sometimes someone is more burdened for a whole season, and that can feel trying, but we keep persevering to help one another, to find ways to lift one another even if they are small.

And when we just feel like we can’t, or feel like no one is there? The Lord is always there. As it says in Psalms:

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Psalm 55:22 ESV

So let us lift each other up and lay our burdens on the Lord who will sustain us!

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado