Our love for Jesus compels us to love one another.

We have been given the privilege of not just sharing life in Christ, but also of suffering together for His sake. The Apostle Paul reminds us that as fellow believers, we are divinely appointed to encourage and support one another through both joy and suffering.

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (NKJV)

There are two types of people in the church, the healthy and the hurting. The healthy help the hurting. How do we go about it? We read in Luke 5:17-26 about four friends who went to great lengths to get Jesus to heal their paralysed friend. They were not disappointed with the outcome.

Paul wrote to the Galatians to serve one another through love (Galatians 5:13). “Serve” comes from the Greek douleuĊ which means “to take the position of a slave”. Paul is not asking you to become a slave to someone. He is asking you to help others with a true servant heart. You serve because of Christ. When you provide a helping hand to others, you thoroughly fulfil Christ's law of love operating in and through you (Galatians 6:2).

Serving is never about making God happy with you. Serving others would become a burden rather than a blessing if this were the case. Rather, when you serve from the knowledge that God is already pleased with you, your service becomes a true and authentic overflow of your life in Christ.

Do you know somebody who is hurting right now?

Then, ask God to show you how to "carry" the person. Caring for someone always has an opportunity cost. It is not always the most convenient time, and it is sometimes the most strenuous thing to do. Still it is always the right thing to do. When you share the pain of others suffering, you will also share the same joy of breakthrough and freedom together.