Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:1-10
Evaluating Your Work (verses 3-5) – Continued
From Last Lesson: Christians should celebrate that they can love because of their experience of the cross of Christ and the power of the Spirit.
When we engage in this kind of self-evaluation, we are also renewed in our commitment to our own God-given mission: For each will have to bear his own load. Each of us has been called by God to carry our own load. There is no contradiction here with verse 2, which calls for Christians to carry each other’s burdens. In fact, Paul uses two different Greek words to make a clear distinction between the burden (baros) and the load (phortion). Though these two words are basically synonymous in other contexts, the change of nouns in this context indicates a change of reference. Verse 2 refers to the need to come to the aid of others who cannot carry the crushing burden of the consequences of their sin. Verse 5 refers to work given to us by our Master, before Whom we will have to give an account of how we used the opportunities and talents He gave us in service to Him. It is because we desire to fulfill our God-given mission in life that we learn how to carry the burdens of others. In other words, as Christians examine their actions to see if they reflect the love of Christ, they are at the same time led by that self-evaluation to consider how to serve others in love.
One of the main things that the Lord called me to do was to serve others. All of my secular jobs through the decades have been in the service field. In my ministry, the very calling to be a minister was in recognizing that I have been called to serve others. There are many who love the title of Pastor, Teacher, or even Prophet or Apostle because of the prestige it brings them. There are many who love to be called Reverend, in fact, many who are personal friends of mine, yet I have always shied away from titles, outside of the legal restrictions necessary to get into the visitation of jails or hospitals. I am a servant. I have not been called to dictate to others what to do other than through serving them the Word of God. I have always told those in congregations to which I have had the privilege to serve, the title isn’t what you are. Rather, you are what you do for the Lord, plain and simple. I’ve known too many in positions of authority within the church organization where it was “their way or the highway”! That, no matter how religious it seems, that way is never God’s way.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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