Bear Ye One Another's Burdens.
By Eliza J. Waggoner
NEVER was there a time when the importance of this command was more manifest than the present. Truly everything in the political and religious world attests the truth that, "United, we stand; divided, we fall." Considering the evil tendency of our own nature, and the wrath with which our great spiritual foe has come down upon those who labor to pull down his strongholds, we conclude that in union only there is strength to resist the evil. We are all, in a certain sense, dependent upon each other as well as upon God. We need not presume to go through to the kingdom alone. Should we undertake this, we may expect to fail at the hill of difficulty, the slough of despond, or finally get into the way that leads to Doubting Castle, and lay our bones in Giant Despair's great castle yard. The members of the church of God were designed to be mutual helps to each other: to possess a oneness of spirit, a oneness of faith, and a oneness of feeling; to carry out the great principle, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." A little before Jesus left the world, he prayed that his people might become one. Not only his disciples and apostles, but all who should believe on him through their word. Therefore it reaches our time, and is especially applicable to the remnant church, of whom it is said, "And in their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God. Without fault! Is it possible that erring mortals can ever arrive at a state of perfection, where God can find no fault with them? Undoubtedly they may, since Paul says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. But say one, How may we bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ? Go into a well-organized family, and there learn something of the duty of the great family of God to each other, of whom Christ is the head. We find in this family the father's commands cheerfully obeyed, the mother's law not despised, and the rights of the children not disputed. Their interests are the same. When one suffers, the sympathies of all are touched; and if one is rendered incapable of acting his part, how readily is he excused. Others, cheerfully bearing his burden, release him from all care. This bond of sympathy constitutes the sweets of the home circle. So also it should be with the members of the body of Christ. However associated together, whether in the church, in the work-shop, in the counting room, or on the farm, in the social visit, in the sewing circle, or in the kitchen, each has a part to act, a burden to bear, and we need not excuse ourselves from taking it. And if our sympathy is touched by the care-worn brow or troubled countenance of a child of God, and we are induced to take a share of their burden, never fear; we shall be sustained even though it rest with more weight upon us than it did upon them. May the Lord help us with all his people to see to it that we as individuals act our part, that we may be of the church that is presented without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing.