The text was published on the portal Kinonia in the column “From the Editor’s Pen,” on 15 March 2026.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). This commandment of the Saviour is wondrous, incomprehensible to us as human beings, ever new and mysterious. Yet how important it is to understand it, so that we might humble ourselves, find peace, cast aside every false dissatisfaction, anxiety, and despondency, and realize that the path towards perfect devotion to the Creator has already been given to us. The path has been found. There is no need for us to hurry or run about, searching in every corner for a more suitable place or ministry for the salvation of our souls.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). What does it mean to fulfil the law of Christ? It means to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness. It means to enter into a mysterious and salvific union with the Living God. It means to receive His saving grace, to be sanctified and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. We lack purity of mind and a proper understanding of the spiritual life in order to penetrate rightly into the mystery of these words. Today we live in a time when deficiency reveals itself in everything—our weakness and our attachment to sin and transience become evident. It is precisely to those who are weak and infected by the virus of sin that Christ’s words are addressed: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).
What does it mean to bear the burdens of others? First, it means that all our neighbours are weighed down by a certain burden, which exists within them just as it exists within ourselves. That burden consists of our limitations, our sinfulness, our passions and weaknesses that envelop and bind us from head to foot; it is our ignorance, our instability, our frailty, our ready inclination towards sin, our inconsistency, our constant lingering in sin, our return to confessed sins, our distraction—in a word, the entire sum of our weaknesses, which in fact testify to the fallen condition of human nature.
Communion with another human being always carries a burden, because we are called to accept the other person together with all his or her weaknesses, shortcomings, and transgressions. Precisely this burden we must bear, through refraining from judgment, through covering weakness with our love, and through our fervent prayer. Thus a husband thinks about his wife, thus a mother thinks about her children, thus a friend thinks about his friend, thus a colleague thinks about his colleague… Whoever does not think in this way knows neither himself, nor human nature, nor anything about communion with others.
Why is the fulfilment of this commandment so fruitful? The fruits of fulfilling this commandment are manifold, for the one who bears the burdens of his neighbours—that is, the one who humbles himself before their perceived and real shortcomings—reveals humility before God. He confesses the truth that only God is without sin, while the “righteous” fall seven times a day. What, then, can we say about sinful human beings, such as we all are? The person who approaches his neighbours with humility, learning to be gentle towards his own and others’ imperfections, proves capable of fulfilling the commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Thus, the person who bears the burdens of others is humble; he possesses a true understanding of fallen human nature. Such a person is filled with love: he does not judge but refrains from malice and despair; he prays, shows compassion, and cares for his neighbours, asking the Lord to strengthen them. The person who loves and who in his thoughts embraces his neighbours and prays for their good bears witness that Christ is the measure of his life.
Bearing the burdens of our neighbours implies our readiness to accept everything from them, both good and bad. The merciful Lord grants us mercy and enlivens us by His grace despite our turning towards sin. The Saviour’s call to bear the burdens of our neighbours indicates that in our own time, in our lives, and in our circumstances, everything necessary and sufficient for salvation has been given to us, for the attainment of moral and spiritual perfection. These words call us to remain ever vigilant over our souls, not to judge our neighbours even in our thoughts, but to wish good to all, to see everyone as more worthy and better than ourselves, and to give greater honour to everyone than to ourselves.
WRITTEN BY: Catechist Branislav Ilić, Editor of the portal Kinonia
