Bear one another's burdens

I'm not sure we're always very good at helping each other with burdens. Sure, we might help a friend move or help a spouse carry stuff in from the car. This is help that is almost a given, help that is expected in these types of relationships.

But what about helping those with greater burdens than an oversized couch or a heavy grocery bag? What if the burden involves helping those we don't know, or those whom we feel don't deserve our help? 

But who are we to judge? I mean - really - who are we to judge that one person over another deserves our help? It is Fear who lies to us. Fear is the one who implants this idea that some people aren't deserving of help. Fear is the one who dehumanizes The Other - who turns them into monsters who are here to destroy us. 

Can we really not see that help isn't really something that someone earns. Help is a gift received.

Help is also a gift given. And if we are truly going to be helpful, then carrying the burdens of others shouldn't be tied to someone deserving help. For Christians, helping should be connected to living out our baptized lives in Christ, sharing the love of God with all people. For all of us, though, helping should be connected to our very humanity - the humanity that says, "This is someone in need and I can help them, and so I will help them."  

​It's called having a heart. It's called living with love