Bearing one another’s burdens is something unbelievers will not do unless they can benefit from it. Generally, the more we have, the more burdens we will have to carry.

In Galatians 6:1a, “fault” refers to a lapse or even a slight deviation from holy living. When we who are spiritually mature are able to see a fellow believer “overtaken in a fault,” i.e. going in the direction of sin, or about to sin, we ought to help to “restore” him to the path of holiness. We cannot not do anything when we can see the problem. We must “bear … one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2a).

As the church grows, and more people come into the church, we will see more issues around us that require us to “bear … one another’s burdens.” If we keep away from our brethren, we would not be able to help to restore. Our lives must be shared with others.

Galatians 6:1b teaches that we must show care when restoring our brethren. When the spiritually mature believer sees a “fault” in another, he must restore the person back to the Lord without condemning. His main purpose must not be to humiliate the spiritually weaker brother, but to restore him. And he must restore with the spirit of humility and meekness.

When the weaker brother is not happy to have his fault pointed out to him, he may argue, get angry and try to defend himself. The mature believer must remember to stay focused and not be swayed by the weaker brother’s emotions. Remember that we are doing this for Jesus' sake. We must show genuine care for the brother as we help him. We must always pray for a humble spirit and for the right words to say to the brother in order to restore him. When we restore a brother, we not only save him from sin, we also save his holy witness for Christ.

When we have the maturity of faith and are knowledgeable enough, we must fulfil our responsibility of bearing one another's burdens (Gal 6:2). When we approach a brother to help him, we will be doing exactly what Christ did when He was on earth. When we are willing to be Christ's mouthpiece and restore a brother, we “fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2b).

When a brother rejects our efforts to restore him to the path of holiness, he is not rejecting us only. He is rejecting Christ, too. Thus, it is an honour and privilege to bear one another's burdens.