3 Things Worth Giving Away to Love People Well

3. The Blessing of Your Comfort

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 NIV

Loving people often means getting outside of our comfort zones. Christ carried a cross He didn’t have to carry. He chose to, so we would be free from the ramifications of our sin. We could not ever stand in front of our Holy God without Christ’s perfect sacrifice. He literally carried our burdens. Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 NIV) If we are to love each other as Christ loved us, it means carrying each other’s burdens.

Paul, in writing to the Galatians, didn’t mean a burden full of groceries, but moral burdens or weaknesses. (NIV) Christ Jesus made it clear the most important commandment was to love God and then our neighbor. We are blessed when we give up our agenda to carry another’s burden. Pray and keep in contact with the friend suffering from depression. Remind her God loves her and it’s not her fault. Invite the single mom and her children over for dinner and just listen to her over a shared meal. There are many opportunities God gives us to carry each other’s burdens.

Love was not designed to be legalistic or forced. We’re not called to simply tolerate the burdens of others, but to lovingly desire to carry each other through them. It isn’t a prideful carrying we take credit for, but an honor to stand in and take the time to love someone in honor of Christ, by whom we have the power to love others in His name.

Paul wrote to the Roman church, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please our selves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” (Romans 15:1-3 NIV) When we carry each other’s burdens, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. Everything we do is to bring glory and honor to God. Christ, living in us, produces every good thing. Sometimes, the people in our lives need us to listen to them, hug them, and love them right where they are at.

When it comes to giving up things in order to love people, they are usually connected to our time, money and material things, or our comfort. The apostle Luke penned these words of Jesus: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38 NIV). We can give up our time, money and material things, and comfort, in full faith that when we do such things to love in the name of Jesus, He will provide and sustain us with His great Love.

Meg Bucher writes about everyday life within the love of Christ as an author, freelance writer and blogger at Sunny&80. Her first book, “Friends with Everyone,”  is available on amazon.com. She earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University, but stepped out of the business world to stay at home and raise her two daughters. Besides writing, she leads a Bible Study for Women and serves as a Youth Ministry leader in her community. She lives in Northern Ohio with her husband, Jim, and two daughters.