What to do about the burdensome people in your life …

What do you do when someone literally becomes a burden?

Most of us bail out on others long before we let them get to that stage.

We like to think we’re generous people. We write the checks that feed and educate starving orphans in far-off lands. We take our kids to the local mission to help serve meals to the homeless. We donate our old clothes to Goodwill. We drop off canned goods in the box for the community food pantry at Starbucks while getting our coffee. We even let a friend sleep on the couch when they’ve had a tough spat with their spouse.

But for most of us, there’s a line that we draw. That line is usually spelled, “B-U-R-D-E-N.”

A burden often means when you cost me real money. Or when you encroach on my comfort, sap my time or impinge on my resources.

So what do you do when someone becomes a burden?

Here’s some biblical insight: “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ,” Galatians 6:2.

The answer? You bear it!

You cannot share someone’s burden without carrying a part of it. You cannot do that without feeling the burden. You cannot feel and carry part of someone’s burden without it costing you something.

Jesus set the example for us by sharing our burden of sin. It was far too heavy for us to handle on our own. So He laid aside everything to share our burden with us. He shouldered our burden at such a cost to Him that it took Him to the cross and a grave.

When it came to sharing our burden, Jesus didn’t have a line. He did whatever it took to help us beyond our burden.

We can’t really say we’re sharing someone’s burden if it doesn’t become a burden for us as well. Something that is heavy and costs us.

So when someone becomes a burden to you, where’s your line?

Scotty