The Christmas season is a wonderful time as we celebrate the birth of our Lord. For a lot of people Christmas lightens their load and brightens up their life. Children especially love Christmas for all the gifts, unusual foods and love ones coming together (plus no school). Many adults love Christmas as well for a number of reasons and look forward to it each year. But for some people, including some Christians, Christmas brings added pressures to buy expensive gifts, see people they would rather not be around, and it can bring back painful memories from the past. In short, Christmas which is and should be wonderful, can be a burden to people.
Now I am not saying that Christmas itself is the problem! If not, what is? As people enter into the Christmas season they bring their problems and concerns with them. Life is difficult these days, and life goes on, even at Christmas time. Some people are still unemployed. Some have serious illnesses. Others have relational issues, and a lot of people are struggling to stay afloat financially even if they do have a job.
The bottom line is that even though Christmas should be an encouraging time of the year, because of the burdens that people bring into it, it can be especially difficult as they realize the gap between their dreams and their reality.
What can and should we as Christians do to help one another? Paul says that we should "bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ."
The word "burden" here refers to any problem or issue that is too heavy for one person to reasonably carry. Some things in life are so horrific or so weighty that we need someone else to help us carry them.
Sometimes we need someone to talk with about painful memories so they can share our grief and heartache. Sometimes we need someone to help us out financially, especially at Christmas when there are greater expectations and expenses. Sometimes we need someone to help us out with things around our house when we are physically ill. A burden can come along in many different forms and require creative ways to help carry it.
The point is that we as Christians have been commanded by our Lord to "love one another" (see John 13:34), and we fulfill that "law" as we help each other carry those things that are simply too heavy for one person.
Now having said that, in the same context there is a command for "each one [to] bear his own load" (Galatians 6:5). This "load" refers specifically to the pack that each Roman soldier was expected to carry each day. There was a certain amount of equipment that every soldier had to carry whether he felt like it or not. In a similar way, God expects us to carry a certain amount of responsibility each day. We all have daily responsibilities for relationships, work, service to God, etc., and the Lord expects us to carry this load each day without help or complaint. The problem is discerning when a "load" becomes a "burden".
This is something that requires prayer and searching the Scriptures. We should not ask others for help with our load, nor should we help them with their load. But when we discern that someone truly has a burden, God calls on us to help in whatever way we can.
This Christmas season, we need to be alert to those with burdens so that God can use us to be a blessing to others for Christ's sake. This is the best present we can give to our Lord on His birthday.At the same, we need to be discerning, because we are not obeying God's Word, or doing anyone a favor if we carry the load God has given to them.
May God help us to know the difference, and to make a difference in someone's life this Christmas!
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