Useful Bible Studies > Galatians Commentary > chapter 6
Galatians 6:1-5
Verses 2 and 5 may seem to be opposites. One verse tells Christians to be like someone who carries things for other people. The other verse tells Christians to be like someone who must carry his own things. But Paul has not made a mistake!
Christians should help other people
Christians should help other people with their problems and difficulties. That is so important that Paul calls it ‘Christ’s rule’. Christ made that rule in John 13:34. Christians must love each other.
What to do when another Christian does wrong things
Sometimes a Christian will do many wrong things. Other Christians should not be cruel to that person. Instead, they should try to help him. Perhaps he will start to love Christ again. And then that person can stop the wrong things that he is doing.
But Christians must be careful when they help a person like that. Their love for God must continue to be strong. They must remember what Jesus has done for them. They must let the *Holy Spirit teach them. It is dangerous for Christians not to do the things that God wants. It is very easy to copy the wrong things that another person is doing.
Christians must be careful about their own thoughts
So Christians must not think themselves better than they really are. A Christian must not think that he is not able ever to do wrong things. And a Christian must not think that he is more important than anyone else. A Christian is only a Christian because of the things that God did.
A Christian must be careful when he thinks about himself. He must be careful always to do the things that God wants. God knows about the things that each person is doing. So each person must check whether he is doing the right things.
That does not mean that the Christian must obey rules. That means that he must give the *Holy Spirit authority over his life. Then good things will be in that Christian’s life (see Paul’s list in Galatians 5:22-23).
So each Christian must check that those good things are in his own life. For example, every Christian must love other people. Every Christian must be kind and patient. The *Holy Spirit will teach every Christian to do the things that are in Paul’s list. But each Christian must be ready to learn.
Next part: Good Christian teachers
See the word list for explanation of words with a *
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 450 page course book.
© 2015, Keith Simons.