If I told you I was going to talk about three bears today, probably you would go back to the old fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Actually, when it first came out in the 19th century, Goldilocks wasn’t even in it. It was an old woman who had broken into the house of the Three Bears.
But the Three Bears I want to talk about today are actually found in the book of Galatians chapter six. And the Apostle Paul writes about them. So let me read to you Galatians chapter six, it says in verse two, bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Then it says in verse five, for each will have to bear his own load. And then in Galatians, chapter six, verse 17, Paul writes, from now on, let no one cause me trouble for I bear on my body, the marks of Jesus.
These three bears need to be a part of every believer’s life. The first bear is to bear one another’s burdens. Remember, we have been called into community. When you become a believer in Jesus Christ, you are not to do it on your own. And all of us who are part of the body of Christ should be seeking to help one another bear burdens, the hardships, the difficulties, the setbacks, are so difficult to handle alone. And so we must bear one another’s burdens.
The second bear is also important. And that is, each of us has to bear our own burden. You see, we can’t just pass it off to other people. We can’t say, Well, I goofed up, I made a mistake, now you fix it. No, we have to accept responsibility for the things that God has given us to carry. All of us have a work to do. And while we can help each other, we’re not to neglect our own.
And then the third bear. In verse 17, Paul talks about his bearing the marks of Christ on his body. There was evidence in Paul’s life. In his case, it was physical. He had bruises and scars from beatings he had taken for the cause of Christ.
But I think all of us need to have evidence in our life, that we are following Jesus. It is a sacrifice. It is something worth sacrificing our lives. It is something that is worth going through difficult times because Jesus Christ is worthy of our service. So make sure you are bearing in your body the marks of Jesus.