Helping the Wounded

"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:1-2 (NKJV)

The first question we must answer is, “What is the ‘law of Christ’?”  We need to look no further than John 13:34. It is where Jesus said to His followers, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  With that command comes a responsibility to care for each other.
Now, I don’t know very many people who like to address conflict or difficult situations, but because we love one another we MUST come alongside each other when we see someone overtaken in sin.  Our flesh might want to ignore the situation or let someone else talk to that brother or sister about that failure, but we cannot afford to think like that lest we become like those that passed by the man who needed help in the story of the Good Samaritan. 
Let us take note of how this delicate procedure is to take place.  First, we should be spiritual.  In other words, we should be walking in the Spirit and not the flesh.  Secondly, we should come in with a heart, not to simply hold the man under the water of his failure and so drown him, but to give him hope of restoration as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 instructs us through the Word – to rebuke the sin, correct his thinking by using the Word to give him hope, and to show him the way of righteousness.  Thirdly, we must do all of this in a spirit of gentleness.  This fruit of the Spirit is vital in such a sensitive situation.  We are dealing with the precious things of God – the eternal souls of men for whom Christ suffered, died, and rose again.  Gentleness is of the utmost importance.  People seldom like to be corrected, but a person who truly loves them and comes to them with gentleness in their correction is like a person with an infected wound receiving anesthesia before the operation – it makes it easier to remove the thorn that has caused the infection.  Fourthly, we need to be careful that we do not become ensnared by the same trap that our brother has been caught by.  It is a tough spot when two injured soldiers need to be evacuated on a stretcher.  Who will man the stretcher if both of them are injured?
If we see a brother caught by the burden of sin, may we love him like Jesus and take the time to help him out of the pit he is stuck in.

Anchored in Christ,
Aaron R. Force