Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
All of the Law can be fulfilled in the commandment given to us by Jesus…to love your neighbors as yourself. We are to treat others as we want to be treated. Let Holy Spirit do the rest! We see in part that which Father knows in full and He sees the heart we do not. Carla
Galatians 6:2-3
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (NKJV)
The law of Christ, Paul uses this phrase to challenge the misguided understanding of the law held by his opponents. Instead of adhering to the agitators’ view of the law, believers should keep the law of Christ—which probably represents Jesus’ interpretation of the Mosaic law. Even if Paul does not have Jesus’ teaching in mind, the phrase certainly involves love of neighbor (5:13–14; Matthew 19:19; John 13:34).
Paul is encouraging humility—a proper view of self in relation to God and others. Arrogance and pride can deter people from serving others. Such behavior harms everyone—both the community of believers and the prideful individual. Faithlife Study Bible
The law of Christ referred to here is probably the summation of the law: “Love your neighbor” (5:14; Matthew 22:39; John 13:34, 35). The term fulfill suggests that choosing to bear another Christian’s burdens (or restore another Christian from burdensome sin, verse 1) is precisely what Christ expects of all believers. The Greek word for burdens refers to something beyond the normal capacity to carry, as opposed to a “load” (verse 5), which is what a person could be expected to carry.
Anyone who concludes that he is something special, through shortsighted self-comparison with those who seem to have fallen, truly deceives himself. Instead of examining and judging others, a Christian should always examine his own work to see if he is closely following Christ’s example (1 Corinthians 11:31; 2 Cor. 13:5). The NKJV Study Bible
1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
Romans 15:1
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
1 Corinthians 9:21
to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;
2 Corinthians 12:11
I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.
My good friend The Rev. Dan Matthews (former Rector at Trinity Church Wall Street and St. Paul's Chapel) told me the story about Mike and Jim, the parish property managers.
Opened in 1766, Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use, St. Paul’s Chapel not only survived the blast and fallout (astonishing in that it sits across the street from Ground Zero), it eventually become the rest station, where volunteers took shifts as cooks, masseurs, podiatrists, and counselors for first responders. Cots were provided for exhausted rescuers. Many slept on the wooden pews (still marked and scarred from boots and equipment to this day).
On the Friday after the attack, the nation was asked to observe a moment of silence. Mike and Jim asked Rev. Matthews if they could ring the bells at St. Paul's just before the noon hour, as a call to remembrance. Although a noble gesture, it wouldn't be possible given the debris in the vicinity, the fact that part of the chapel had been quarantined and the reality that the bells were disabled. Undeterred, they decided to go ahead with their plan, making their way to the top of the bell tower. On the way, amidst the debris they found an old steel pipe. When they reached the top, Mike told Rev. Matthews that he used that piece of steel “to beat the hell out of that bell.”
Looking out at the scene below, they could see that every worker at ground zero had removed their hard hat, and turned to face the bells. Mike said, “It hit me, that even when things get their worst, I know that there is still hope.”
William Sloane Coffin’s affirmation, “It is hope that helps us keep the faith, despite the evidence, knowing that only in doing so has the evidence any chance of changing.”
In a world where so much can go wrong, we are tempted to forget (or do not see) the moments where so much can go right. Despite the debris, moments when we can find the courage to make our way to the bell tower, where Leonard Cohen reminds us to “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering.”
What do we do when the unimaginable happens?
It is the great irony, and heartfelt beauty: Our strength and resilience does not come from a show of force or bravado, but in the freedom to be tough enough to be soft.
We are prophets—of steadfastness, justice, compassion, and mercy—when we do not hide our woundedness.
In St. Paul's, one reporter overheard a firefighter say, “When I come in that door, I'm covered with blood sometimes, and they hug me. They love me, they take care of me, they treat me as a real human being. And then they feed me, and they massage me, and they give me adjustments. These are my people. This is my place. This is where I come to be with God.” Sabbath Moments
