GTY: Strength For Today Daily Devotional

Bearing Burdens

letters@gty.org (Grace to You) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

“Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Those who walk by the Spirit will lovingly bear one another’s burdens.

The Lord Jesus presents love for God and love for our neighbor as the great summary of the entire Law (Matt. 22:37-40).

It only makes sense, then, that love will characterize the life of any Christian who is walking by the Spirit. Love will also be an integral part of any Spirit-assisted ministry to others. Paul tells us in today’s verse that when we help other believers hold up their particular burdens, we are obeying “the law of Christ” or the law of love, which James calls “the royal law” (James 2:8).

But what exactly does Galatians 6:2 mean when it commands us to “bear one another’s burdens”? Commentator William Hendriksen gives us this general but helpful observation: “This does not merely mean ‘Tolerate each other,’ or ‘Put up with each other.’ It means: ‘Jointly shoulder each member’s burdens.’”

The actual word burden calls to mind a variety of possible sins, difficulties, and responsibilities; but Paul was using the Greek term that refers to an extremely heavy and unbearable load. It’s a load that one person alone can’t carry, which underscores again that Christians need each other. The Holy Spirit wants each member of the church involved in a ministry of mutual support.

The essence of burden-bearing is spiritual accountability and responsibility. One of the most practical ways we can bear someone else’s burden is to talk and pray regularly with him or her about spiritual issues and measure that person’s progress in overcoming a certain sin or temptation.

Bearing the burdens of another believer is a wonderful, reciprocal learning process in which both individuals can benefit from God’s truth and understand more about His will for their lives (see Gal. 6:6). As we become more sensitive and obedient to Him, the Holy Spirit orchestrates this ministry and gives us the privilege of instructing and upholding others as we continue to walk in Him day by day.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God that His Spirit is powerful enough to help us bear the heaviest burdens of fellow believers.

For Further Study

Read the Epistle to Philemon.

What things did Paul probably do to bear Onesimus’s burdens?
How was the entire letter a form of burden-bearing by Paul for Philemon?

Additional Resources

Spiritual Restoration

letters@gty.org (Grace to You) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

“Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1).

Those walking by the Spirit are to restore sinning fellow believers.

God never intended that the spiritual walk be an end in itself. Instead, He wants believers to have a positive influence on fellow believers so that the church will be purified and built up. Galatians 6:1 reveals how those who walk by the Spirit ought to minister to others within the Body of Christ. Paul says they are to restore other brothers and sisters who might have fallen into sin.

“Caught in any trespass” denotes falling into a sin and becoming bound by it, just as an animal might become caught in a trap. Whenever another believer we know gets ensnared by any sin—no exception—the Holy Spirit wants “you who are spiritual” to seek his or her restoration. The “spiritual” designation does not refer to some elite class of Christians but simply includes anyone who is walking by the Spirit.

The one who is spiritual and is relying on the Spirit’s wisdom and guidance will restore the sinning believer with patience. The Greek verb in Galatians 6:1 translated “restore” strongly implies that spiritual restoration will need to be a methodical, persevering process. (The Greek originally referred to the mending of fishing nets or the realigning of a frame or joint.)

The verse further indicates that we must approach the entire restoration process with “gentleness.” As believers who have this fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23), such an approach should be almost automatic for us. But since we are merely sinners saved by grace, we need Galatians 6:1 and other reminders of the right way to restore a sinning brother or sister: “And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thess. 3:15).

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that your church leaders would be faithful in confronting and seeking to restore those members who fall into sin.

For Further Study

Read Galatians 5:16-26.

What two things within the believer are at odds early in the passage?
Record two or three observations that are most striking to you about the contrasts between the individual good and evil character traits listed here.

Additional Resources

The Spirit and Prayer

letters@gty.org (Grace to You) — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

“Be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).

Spending time with God in prayer is another crucial element in walking by the Spirit.

During my regular times in the Word, I often don’t know where Bible study ends and meditation begins, or where meditation turns into prayer. My devotions are definitely a seamless process in which I read Scripture, meditate on it, and pray that God would help me understand it. I’m sure that many of you have had the same experience. It ought to be like that for any believer who is faithful in spending time with the Lord daily.

Along with meditating on Scripture and focusing on God, prayer is an essential component of our strategy to walk by the Holy Spirit. An attitude of moment-by-moment prayer, patterned after 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (“Pray without ceasing”), will greatly help us walk in step with the Spirit.

“Pray without ceasing” obviously does not mean believers are to spend every waking moment in formal prayer. Paul’s command to the Thessalonians refers to recurring prayer, not a ceaseless uttering of words from a certain posture.

To pray as part of our spiritual walk means we bring every temptation before God and ask for His help. It means we thank Him for every good and beautiful experience. It means we ask the Lord to allow us to join the fight against evil. It means when we have an opportunity to witness, we pray that God would help us be faithful and that He would draw the person to Himself. And finally, this kind of prayer means we’ll turn to God as our Deliverer whenever we have trials.

Thus, walking by the Spirit is a lifestyle of continual prayer. All of our thoughts, actions, and circumstances become opportunities to commune with God. And if that is true, we obey Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18).

Suggestions for Prayer

Take a brief prayer list with you (on an index card) today, and try to pray through it several times during the day.

For Further Study

Matthew 6:1-8 leads into Jesus’ presentation of the Lord’s Prayer. What general attitude has no place in prayer?
List the specific things Christ warns against, along with those He commends in this passage.

Additional Resources

Focusing on Scripture and the Lord

letters@gty.org (Grace to You) — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

We must focus on God and His Word as we begin to walk by the Spirit.

Paul’s directive to the Galatians in today’s verse may sound like an impractical platitude. But to the apostle this command was a foundational truth for how all Christians should live their daily lives. The Greek for “walk” could be translated, “keep on continually walking.” Life transpires one day at a time, and believers should routinely take each day one step at a time.

In walking by the Holy Spirit, our chief opposition is our own flesh (Gal. 5:17). Therefore, it is crucial that we possess the scriptural strategy for our spiritual walk and that we know how to practically and effectively carry it out.

The first part of our strategy has to be a daily intake of God’s Word. Psalm 1:2 says that the man who walks on a godly path will “delight . . . in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Meditation (patiently and thoroughly reflecting on a passage of Scripture) helps us effectively seal the Word in our hearts so we can obediently apply it and minister it in accordance with God’s Spirit.

Secondly, if we want to walk by the Spirit, we must focus on God and allow Him to renew our minds. The key is found in Paul’s familiar command: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). The believer who lives that way will undoubtedly walk by the Spirit because he will also be one who worships God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). As one Bible teacher so aptly phrased it, “Find me a worshiper of God, and I will show you a stable man with his mind in control, ready to meet the present hour with refreshment from above.”

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray today that the Lord would help you to begin removing everything from your life that is preventing you from worshiping Him wholeheartedly.

For Further Study

Joshua 1:8; Psalm 19:7-8; John 8:31-32; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 2:15; and Hebrews 4:12 all refer to God’s Word. Read them and write down all the different things they say about the importance of Scripture.
What should motivate you to have a better intake of the Word?

Additional Resources

The Spirit and God's Will

letters@gty.org (Grace to You) — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

“‘“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances”’” (Ezekiel 36:27).

The Holy Spirit has always led and will continue to lead believers to know God’s will.

One of the Spirit’s most practical ministries is to help believers know and follow God’s will.

Ezekiel 36:27 plainly indicates that the Spirit has always been available to lead God’s people. And Isaiah reminds us, centuries before Ezekiel’s time, that the Lord “is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses” (Isa. 63:11-12).

The proceedings at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 wonderfully illustrate how the Spirit gave guidance to the New Testament church. The Council convened to determine what principles of conduct the Jewish-led early church should place on the many new Gentile converts who were now in the fellowship. After much prayerful discussion, the Council made the all-important decision that it was not necessary to adhere to Moses’ law as a means of salvation.

The Council set down its concise recommendations in a letter that was the result of a Spirit-led consensus among the apostles and elders: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you [Gentiles] no greater burden than these essentials” (Acts 15:28). The leaders were confident that their decision was from the mind of the Holy Spirit as reflected in Scripture; therefore they knew it was correct and in accord with God’s will.

Romans 8:14, which says, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God,” encourages us that we also can be certain of the Spirit’s guidance. If we are faithful to hear, read, and study the Word, if we strive to obey it, and if we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit, then He will guide us into God’s perfect will for our lives (see Ps. 119:105).

Suggestions for Prayer

If you have an important decision to make, pray that you would have the discernment to know and follow God’s will.
If no major decision faces you now, thank God that the Spirit is always present to provide guidance.

For Further Study

Read Proverbs 3:1-6.

What does this say about the importance of God and His Word in knowing His will?
Memorize verses 5-6.

Additional Resources