The Apostle Paul taught the believers in Galatia that they had been delivered from self-love by the gospel of God’s grace so that they might love others. He wrote unto them “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another”. He went on to say that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Galatians 5:13-14; emphasis added). In essence, what the law could not do, the gospel of Jesus Christ accomplished.
Putting others first is foreign to our nature apart from the grace of God. We are selfish by nature and, consequently, preoccupied with our own needs, desires, and agenda. The grace of God enables us to see others as God would have us to see them. In light of this, Paul exhorted the believers to “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Life is hard and we need not look far to encounter someone laboring under some difficulty. God would have us do what we can to ease that burden. Sooner or later we shall find ourselves under one kind of burden or another. It is little wonder that Christ taught “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
What is known as the “law of the harvest” is embedded in this teaching and, as Paul taught, always comes to pass. He stated it clearly, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). This principle is unwavering and sure. The Lord Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Later, in that same sermon, Christ challenged his disciples to do good even to “your enemies” because our heavenly Father is “kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36). From God’s perspective, not one of us deserves mercy for there is “none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). When we do good unto others we are showing mercy to them as the Lord has shown mercy to us. This mercy shall surely return unto us.
The certainty of harvest is the reason Paul encouraged his audience to “not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:9-10; emphasis added). The gospel of Jesus Christ has delivered us from not just the penalty of our sin, but the power of our sin. We are free to serve both God and man. Answer this, do you see others first before yourself? Let us do good!
From the Chaplain 