“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the Law of Christ.”- Galatians 6:2
John Ortberg titles Chapter 6 of The Life You’ve Always Wanted “Appropriate Smallness”, a reference to humility in the life of servanthood. One way to enter that life of servanthood is through what the author calls The Ministry of “Bearing”. While Christians typically think of being called to bear each other’s burdens, Pastor Ortberg observes that when an entire relationship is burdensome, we may need to “bear” with other people until we learn to love them.
Yet this ministry of bearing with one another goes beyond merely tolerating difficult people- it is leaning to be for them. It also involves the realization that the most difficult person we need to deal with is ourselves. The author explains:
“. . . . the truth is that all of us are somewhere on a journey to God, and the gap between least and most advanced is infinitely smaller than the gap between the most advanced and God himself.”
