Help

Help!

Galatians 6:2 AMP

[2] Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love].

John 13:34 AMP

[34] I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.

If no example or sample of what is right and acceptable before God was not provided, anything we did would be acceptable. Until the law came, men were judged by other personal standards outside the law, but once the law laid down the model of behaviour, it then became a sin, as well as the subject of judgment, if someone refused or neglected to comply with the provisions of the law. This is the principle that also applies in the verse above. Before Jesus came, the law permitted its subjects to love their neighbours and hate their enemies, but Jesus cams to establish a different standard, where love had no limits, and was offered freely to all men, no matter who they were in the past, what they had done or not done, and even for whatever they may even do in the future. This is the new standard of behaviour that Jesus has now laid down, and expects all His followers to comply with. 

In complying with the law of Jesus, we have to start with the premise of identity. Who I am defines what I do, and how I do it. In both of the verses above, the audience were people who knew and were walking with Jesus. Paul was speaking to the churches in Galatia, and Jesus was speaking to His disciples, men who had left all and followed Him. It has to be laid out that these instructions will demand something from you, and that is why it is not for everyone. It has to also be emphasized that everyone would have his or her own burden to bear, and it may be convenient to focus on yourself alone, but the example that has been laid down for us places a demand on us to look beyond what we need to how we can help others with their needs, which will also lead to us getting the help that we need. That is love defined, where I am able to see the need of other people, not because I do not have mine, but because of the work that Jesus has wrought in my heart. 

Love cannot be faked; at least, not the version that Paul speaks about here. How can I focus on other people's needs, whilst I have mine to deal with? It takes a heart completely taken over by Jesus to see the needs around you, and be willing and ready to help. The other point to make, which is also quite valid, is that helping others this way is obedience to the express command of Jesus. For a child of God, being obedient is not subject to negotiation. You either obey or disobey; there is no middle ground. The law of Christ calls for loyal subjects, who will surrender their own wills to that of the Master. This Master also appreciates and rewards obedience. If I do what He commands, He is obligated to give me the reward of obedience, which is ultimately eternal life with Him. There is nothing this world can give you that will equate with what God can give, when we dare to obey His commands. He waits for us. How do we respond? God's time of favour is here.