Galatians 6, 1-5, this is again, as we saw last week, the beginning part of Paul's practical application based on all the doctrine, all the truth that he has been given throughout the remainder of the book. Galatians 6. Father, now open our eyes, our ears, our minds. Give clarity to the one who speaks. Give understanding to those who hear. Holy Spirit, we are dependent upon Your action to take the Word, to plunge it into our minds and hearts, to rivet us to this truth that we will be changed and shaped by it, from the children all the way to the adults, that You will mold and shape us in a way that brings You glory. We pray for Jesus' sake, Amen. Verse 1, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness, keeping watch on yourself lest you to be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone, and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load." This is the Word of God. Alright, so we've been looking at the practical application of what it means to live a Christian life, a Christ-centered life, in step with the Spirit. Back in chapter 5, verse 25, Paul had said, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. And so this is the normal Christian life as we live it out together in community in Christ's church. By keeping in step with Him, we keep in step with one another. We walk together through life following Jesus. Amen? No Christian walks alone. You were never meant to. We walk together with one another following Christ. And because we walk together following Christ, that means that we have certain responsibilities toward one another. But we looked at two of these last week. First, in verse 1, when a brother or sister stumbles into sin, you who are spiritual, that is, you who are walking in the Spirit and bearing the Spirit's fruit, you go after them and help restore them to faithfulness in Christ. Second, verse 2, when your brother or sister has a heavy burden weighing them down, Help them carry it, for in this way you fulfill the law of Christ. You are living the Christ-like life toward your brother or sister. And so this morning we want to continue with this theme of bearing one another's burdens, of being Christ-like burden bearers toward one another. and to see what that looks like and how we work that out together for the glory of God in this life we share together as Christ Church. And so let's begin where we left off last time in verse 2. Christian, be a burden bearer for others as you walk in Christ-like love. That's verse 2 again. bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So, what is this saying to you personally as a follower of Christ? Well, it is saying that this is part of your calling as a Christian. We are called to regularly bear one another's burdens. Didn't you know that? Did you somehow think that you were free just to live for yourself with Christ's name on you, to go your merry way, doing your own thing, passing by on the other side when you see someone stumbling under a load? Did you imagine that you could do that and still claim to be a follower of Jesus? Because where do you think the steps of Christ lead as you follow Him? They will always lead to sacrificial service. Do you remember John 10.45, Jesus said, speaking of Himself, even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. This is the Christ we serve. This is the Lord we follow. And this Lord, Jesus, has set us free not to serve ourselves, but to serve one another in love. You remember that back in Galatians 5.13, Paul said, for you were called to freedom, brothers. The Gospel gives such freedom. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh to live for yourself. But through love, serve one another for the whole law, all that God commands us is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. In a nutshell, this is the Christian ethic. If you're going to follow Jesus, this is where He will always lead, into a life of Service and love, giving yourself for others just as Christ has given Himself for you. And there are so many ways that we must learn to apply this in our lives. That's kind of our assignment based on this truth. For example, it often must begin at home. Ephesians 5.25 says, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. And so you remember that love here is an action verb. It's not just describing your feelings toward her, but your actions for her. Love your wife as Christ loved the church means, in part, bear her burdens. Now, I didn't say bear her as a burden. You know, that old ball and chain thing. No, no, that's utter nonsense. You think that way, that'll kill your marriage. You've got to put that to death. What I mean is, well, what load, men, is your wife carrying that you need to put your strong shoulder under and help her carry it? Could it just be the day in and day out burden of work she does to keep the household going, the difficulty with this or that particular child, or just tired, I'm tired, I need some rest. Now, it's not for me to figure that out, but you get to figure that out yourself. But you're alert to it. You see, what burden should I be helping to carry here? And it's not just husbands and wives, of course, it's children, it's singles, it's friends within the church, right? Kids. Sometimes I watch you adding to the burden of your siblings by the way you treat each other, or maybe I should say mistreat each other. You know, just loading them down with maybe hard comments, put-downs, maybe shirking your responsibility because you know if you do it, maybe it will force one of them to do what you didn't want to do anyway. Rather than lifting them up, encouraging them, seeking actually to help them. My brother or sister, absolutely. This is where you're learning how to even live this out. And the same is true here within the church as a whole, right? We are brothers and sisters in Christ, whether single or married. Are you, in your interaction with the men and women and children here, are you adding to the burden? Are you ignoring the burden of a brother or sister? Or are you, through grace, helping them carry it? How are you lightening the load of those God has put around you. And we just need to think about these kind of things very practically. We have many singles here within our church of every age. Praise the Lord! That is awesome! You who are married, do you remember the burden, singleness, can sometimes be. Do you remember the loneliness that can be a part of that? And even feeling basically disconnected from the people around you. How might God use you to help carry the burden of someone in that place in life? It could be as simple as having them over for a meal. They're used to eating alone perhaps. Or for a holiday if they don't have somewhere to go. For that matter, singles. Some of you have extra time on your hands. You don't realize it, but you do. And how could you give yourself to helping bear the burden of one of these harried moms or dads that are around you? Maybe just lending a hand to help them to the car one Sunday when you notice that it really is a hassle today. Or perhaps cleaning up a mess that you have nothing to do with making. But just saying, look, this is an opportunity for me to serve. Maybe going and helping with some project as we're talking about these things. And I've seen that kind of thing happen. That kind of solves both of those, doesn't it, right? That the single guy gets fellowship and the married guy gets help. perhaps befriending an older child who's kind of hidden in that place and it's kind of hard and it would be a blessing to have someone else walking with Jesus coming along and encouraging them in that walk. Maybe just a word of encouragement here and there, a prayer that you're offering for them. You, in your twenties, do you remember what it was like just a few years ago to be a teenager? Some of the struggles you hit? Hormones hit and things seem discombobulated and you're trying to figure it all out. How might you encourage one of these younger ones coming up behind you to walk and to keep their eyes on Jesus? Old age can be a burden. Some of you who are younger don't realize that yet. Your day is coming. Illness, prolonged illness especially, is a burden. If you've been gifted with youth and health at this time. How might you use that youth and health to help Miss Doris or someone else to carry their particular burden at this time? A burden shared within the church is a burden made lighter. And that's what we are called to do for each other within the body in practical and regular ways. Because, Paul says, this kind of love in action is what fulfills the law of Christ. as we noted last time. Fulfills completely this word means. It's a different word than he used earlier. Fulfills it fully. When we do this kind of thing toward one another, we're doing exactly what Jesus commands us to do within the body of Christ. Do you remember John 15, 12, and 13? Jesus said to His disciples, and this would include us, this is my commandment to you. What is it? That you love one another as I have loved you and greater love has no one than this than he lay down his life for his friends. That, Paul says, that's the law of Christ. So what is the law of Christ? We saw last time the law of Christ is having Christ Himself as the standard by which you live your life. Everything He said, everything He's done, you live with your eyes fixed on Him and your ears tuned to His Word and that of His apostles so that His love becomes your love. His sacrifice for you motivates your service to others around you. So that following Jesus means bearing one another's burdens and doing so out of love and joy and peace and all the rest of the fruit of the Spirit that He has placed in your heart through the Holy Spirit who now dwells within you. This, Paul says, this is working out our theology. This is where what we believe becomes how we behave as we work out this Christ-centered love in the lives of one another. So that's the first thing. Really, just review from last week. Be a burden-bearer. Be a burden-bearer in obedience to Christ's love. Make that your aim. Okay, okay, but what keeps us from doing that? According to Paul, it is our natural and sinful focus on ourselves that keeps us from doing that. Pride fixes my eyes on me and keeps me from seeing the needs of those around me. So here's the second thing this morning. Don't be a selfie stick Christian with your eyes focused on you. Look at verse 3. He says, For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself." And listen, if anything characterizes a large part of our culture today, it's the selfie stick. I don't have a selfie stick here, so maybe we say the selfie pose. Where we love to put ourselves in the center of the picture as if the whole world should indeed be focused on us. Now, I've done that. If you go to my Facebook page, you're going to find a few selfies on there next to all the pictures of the grandkids. The problem comes when we live our lives like that pose, with self at the very center of the picture. Because here's the problem. If my eyes are fixed on me, they won't be fixed on Christ. nor will I be focused on the needs of the people around me. In fact, I probably won't even notice the people around me because the lens of my camera is focused on me. So if they get in the picture at all, it's only as background to my selfie. You ever see mission trip photos like that? If you ever get to go on a mission trip with Psalm 67, do not do that. Aaron Sutton will rebuke you. Don't use some poor kid as a prop to your pride shot. I heard him say that one time. Because it looks like you're there helping, but really it's all about making you look good for your helping. Kind of like the political photo ops that we're all really, really tired of. That's what Paul is warning about here. Don't make it about you. Make it about Christ. Put Him at the center. Because if He's not at the center, then you're not really going to do anybody any good anyway. And that includes yourself, by the way. So again, look at what Paul says in verse 3. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Three things here. First, this kind of self-focused pride will keep you from Christ-centered service. It'll do it in a couple of ways. First, as I said, you won't even notice the people around you and their needs if your eyes are in fact fixed on yourself. I mean, part of bearing one another's burdens is being aware that there are others around me who have burdens. And I'm just going to say, Boy, I love our teens and some of you are such servants and that's awesome. But the teenage years for some reason are our place where as you're awakening to who you are, it's really, really easy for your eyes to get very, very focused on yourself. But to the degree that you are obsessed with yourself and your own load, you become blinded to the loads and concerns of the people around you. And so church, we've just got to notice each other. Pay attention. Look around. See each other. Get your head up out of your own stuff to see others' stuff. Get to know one another. Engage one another for good. If you're in one of our deep group studies of Ruth, don't you love the way Boaz notices this poor widow Ruth? I mean, this powerful, godly man had his eyes opened to see this foreigner, this widow, who had nothing to offer Him. And yet, He sees her, He invites her to His table, He provides for her, and God uses Him in a mighty way, not just for her good, but for yours and mine, because, of course, she becomes one of the Gentile ancestors of Christ. I hope that's not a spoiler for some of you who are in that study, but that's where it's headed. But what if Boaz had been too busy taking selfies to notice her? What if he was so caught up in all of his thinking about, how am I going to pay for all these workers? Where am I going to put all this grain? How am I going to take care of all these burdens that I've got? Ask God to open your eyes to see the needs of those around you and help you meet them in His name. Self-focused pride can make you think that, well, you're just too good to help this particular person in their need. Look at Paul's words. He says, if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, do you see yourself as nothing? And of course, here he's talking about spiritual pride. You look at yourself and you think, you know, I deserve the good things that I've got. I did this. I've got it together. I've been a good kid. I've been a good husband. I'm doing it right. I'm following the commands. That's why God is blessing me because of the things I've been doing right. So why should I stoop to help someone who got themselves into such a mess not doing it right? If they had done things right the way I have done things right, they wouldn't even be in this mess. Stop! Stop! Where are your eyes focused right now? You've got your selfie stick out. Hey, hey, look at me! Jesus says, no, stop, look at me. And then look at them. Remember the old thing, Jesus, others, yourself? J-O-Y? Maybe we need to go back to Sunday school sometimes. And maybe they did bring this on themselves by some foolishness. But there, but for the grace of God, go you." What good thing do you have because you deserved it from God? I'll give you the answer, nothing. Calvin said, we have nothing of our own to boast about, but are destitute of every good thing in and of ourselves. That's what Paul means when he says we are nothing. That's not a put down. He's not saying you should think terribly about yourself, that you're just garbage in that way. It's simply an acknowledgment that you don't need to be thinking about yourself. Humility at heart is not a matter of thinking poorly of yourself. It's not thinking of yourself first and foremost at all. Jesus others yourself. So, don't be impressed with yourself. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 4.7, he says, What do you have that you did not receive? He means by grace. If then you've received it by grace, why do you boast as if you had not received it? Why think so much of yourself? No, don't be impressed with you. Be impressed with Jesus and then go follow Him in serving others. I mean, you ain't all that in a bag of chips. But He is and more. So be small in your own eyes because Jesus is so big and let Him fill that entire picture so you see others as He sees them. One of the banner passages for that. is Philippians 2. Paul says to us, do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit. By the way, think about how that connects with our passage back in 5.16. Don't be conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. Let each one of you look not to his own interest, put away the selfie stick, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which was yours in Christ, who though He was in the form of God, didn't account equality with God something to be grasped, means held on to for His own benefit. Hey, look at me. He didn't see it that way, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men. That's our Jesus. Dr. Phil Reichen in his commentary says, People who have a rather high opinion of themselves are generally unwilling to carry anybody else's baggage. They are too self-centered to be self-giving. They think serving someone else is beneath their dignity. Why should they stoop to shoulder someone else's burden? But that is not the way of Christ. So that we see third, any kind of self-focused pride like this is self-delusional. Look what Paul says at the end of verse 3. He says, the one who lives like this, the one who thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. Literally, the word there is, he's mind-tricked. He's mind-tricked himself, this word means. He's delusional. He's self-deceived in the noggin. It's like some evil Jedi came along and mind-tricked you into believing the lie that you are a really big deal. No, no, there's no Christ for you to live for here. It's all about you and what you want. Oh, don't worry about other people. They're not your responsibility. No, no, live for yourself. Follow your dreams. That's all that matters here. You. Do you ever hear that voice? So there is an evil Jedi here trying to mind trick you in this way. Whether Satan and his lies, or your own flesh, or just this world of radical individualism that says, put yourself first, put your feelings first, you do you, think about you because nobody else is going to. All the lies. But if you listen to that voice, You will be deceived, as so many in this culture are, and you will be blinded to God. You say, where's God in my world? Maybe He's all over your world, but you're so caught up in the selfie stick that you can't even see Him. The vision is not on Him. The frame has Him taken out of it. And so to live in a glorious God-made world where it's all about Him and yet think that it's all about you is the height of foolishness. It's suicidal. It's deadly. It's just plain stupid. And it misses the whole point of life. And in the end, if you live that way, listen, you will lose your life in the most tragic way possible. Mark 8.35 reminds us that whoever would save his life, that as you're clinging to it and making it about you, you're going to lose it. But whoever loses his life, gives it away freely because he's following Jesus, he will save it. He will have it eternally. So we were made for this. We were made to follow our servant Lord as servants to others. We were made to know and follow Christ and in His name serve others for Christ. Which brings me then to this third thing and that is you and I on a regular basis need to evaluate ourselves with the mirror of God's Word rather than nitpicking others with the magnifying glass of self-righteousness. How do you keep from being deceived by that evil Jedi voice? You hold up the mirror of God's Word and you test all things, the things you're doing, the things you're believing, in the mirror of God's Word. Remember, you can be deceived. Your feelings are not objective. They're not the objective standard. In fact, they often will lead you astray. Kids especially hear that. You feel things doesn't mean that those things are true. In fact, very often because of your selfish nature, the things you feel very strongly are completely false and misleading you because the Jedi voice has put that in your mind. So what you need is an objective standard, something outside of you that you can look to and see, and it says to you, this is the truth. And Christian, God's Word is that truth. John 17, 17, Jesus praying says, "...sanctify them by the truth." Your Word is truth. Your Word is the standard of truth. Your Word is that which defines what truth is. And so I go to the Word in order to see myself truly. That's why James... calls the Word the mirror that we must look in. James 1.23 and following, where he exhorts us to look into God's Word as in the perfect law of liberty that shows us who we are and helps us judge our works to see that indeed they are righteous. He says how foolish of a man to look in that mirror and see the truth, put down the mirror, go away and forget what he saw, Now he's out there living the delusion of his own mind, following that Jedi voice, not living in the truth that God's Word has shown him. So, every time that Jedi voice whispers in your ear and tells you it's about you, run back to the mirror of God's Word and hold it up to be reminded that it's not about you, it's about Him and what He is doing in and through you. Paul says, open up that mirror and with it, Let each one test his own work. The word test means to examine something very carefully. To test it against a standard. And again, that standard is Christ Himself as we find Him in God's Word. It's the law of Christ. It's Christ's own life and teaching. In other words, Let your works, let your actions, your attitudes, your thoughts be regularly held up to the mirror of Christ in His Word, so that you see them truly. So, are your actions in keeping with Christ as He reveals Himself? in His Word? Are you manifesting His sacrificial love, His character, the fruit of His Spirit? Can you see that in that mirror? them look something like His love for you? Does your love for your siblings? Does your love for your spouse? Does your love for that cranky boss? Does your love for that neighbor down there look like His love for you? So that you are caring for these neighbors, loving them as you love yourself, doing good for them, even those who despise and abuse you, as Christ commands us. That's the kind of self-examine we are called to. Self-examination. Not the selfie stick which colors everything and has filters and doesn't give us the truth, but the mirror of God's Word. Same thing we see in 2 Corinthians 13.5 when it says, examine yourselves to see whether or not you're in the faith. Test yourselves. Same word we have here. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourself? That Jesus Christ is in you. That's who you're looking for in that mirror. Unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test. So rather than the selfie stick that focuses on you as the standard by which you judge others, hold up the mirror of God's Word and let it test you by the standard of who Christ is and what He's doing. Hold up the mirror of God's Word, and one more thing He tells us, put away the magnifying glass of judgmentalism. Verse 4, He says again, But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will not be in himself alone, and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own burden." His reason to boast. Boy, that sounds kind of odd coming here, as the English gives it. Because suddenly it sounds like we are bragging about ourselves. Which would seem to contradict everything Paul has been saying. But the word itself actually refers to the source of our confidence or boasting, to that righteous pride in God for what He is doing. It's kind of like Jeremiah 9.24 where it says, but let him who boasts, boast in this. What can we boast in? Not in ourselves, right? What do we boast in? That He understands and knows me. that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. And you're seeing those things now reflected in you. For in these things, the things I'm giving you, the things I'm doing in you, these are what I delight in, declares the Lord, and what I want you to delight in. 1 Corinthians 1.31, as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. In the Lord and His works. So we ought to be really excited about that. And so Paul, Paul is saying, hold up the mirror so you can see the good things that God has done and give Him glory and rejoice that God has saved you and is changing you and is even using you now in the lives of others. Do that rather than running around with a magnifying glass in your pocket trying to focus in on other people's sins. See, here's the real danger. This, in fact, is a danger. I kind of had a hard time cutting the sermon off where I did last week. Because there was one real danger I was aware of that could come out of that message from last week in verse 1 where it says, Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. And the immature believer, I realized, the immature believer could take that and run with it, grab a magnifying glass, and start examining everyone else around him as closely as possible, looking for sins he could expose, and say, Aha! I caught you! And we become real pests to each other. Scratching around in the dirt of one another's lives, the dust of one another's lives, looking for sins that we could expose. Some little misstep that we can criticize. Paul says, no, no, no. I want you to put away the magnifying glass because you are not the fault police for your brother. Put away the magnifying glass and keep holding up the mirror of God's Word of self-examination so that you can set your feet to keep walking with Jesus and walking in fellowship with your brothers and sisters. Then, in the course of walking in fellowship with your brothers and sisters, sins will be exposed, burdens will be seen, and then we can actually help each other deal with them through grace. Isn't that exactly what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7, 3-5? Listen to it with this in mind. Jesus says, why do you see that speck that is in your brother's eye? Why are you holding up that magnifying glass and looking at him just to find that little speck? But you don't even notice the log that's in your own eye. Why not? Because you haven't been using the mirror. Or how can you say to your brother, hey, let me take that little speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye you haven't even seen? You hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you'll be in a position to help your brother take the speck out of his eye. Maybe there is a speck there. Maybe it needs to be dealt with. But look at the mirror first. And Paul says when we do that, then we have reason to boast and glory in God for what He has done. By the way, this word boasting is actually in the future tense. Which means the real boasting we're looking toward is something we're looking forward to in the future? So what is that? What is that boasting in the future we're looking forward to in the context? This is looking forward to that final judgment when we will all stand before Christ and have our works in His name evaluated by the only eye that never misses. Which brings us to the final thing here. Each one of us, Paul says then, must carry our own load into the presence of Jesus from here all the way to that final day. Matthew 11.29, I'll come back to that one. 2 Corinthians 5.10 says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Verse 5 is just saying similar things. For each will have to bear his own load. I think I told you last week this word, load, here is different from burdens back in verse 2. Back in verse 2, that's the heavy burdens no one can carry alone that we need to help each other carry through life. But here, this load means either a ship's cargo, the load the ship must carry, or it can also mean your own personal backpack, that which you are able to carry and you are called to carry because each one of us must carry our own load through this life. the load that has been assigned to us by our Savior, the one that we will give answer to God for, for how we carried it and what we did with it. Because, listen, it is Jesus Himself who gave you your load. Listen to Him now in Matthew 11, 29-30. Take my yoke upon you. That is come stand by me and let's be yoked together so you can walk with me. Think about that. Always think about that image. Two oxen yoked together, where do they go? Well, they both go wherever the lead oxen takes them. Be yoked to me so you're walking with me. Learn from me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart and you'll find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden, same word here for load, my burden is light. It's what I want you to carry and enable you to carry and empower you to carry. And so the question for you is, how are you carrying this load today? With faithfulness? Rejoicing in Him? Using the gifts and blessings He's given you to be a blessing to others as you help them along the way? Or with grumbling and complaining filled with self-centered pride as you think mainly about yourself. And when we stand before Him, what will be your plea? Lord, look at my selfies. Aren't they great? Aren't they impressive? Or, Lord, in humble gratitude, I give You praise for all that You've done for me and in me and by Your grace through me. So with gratitude, you hear Him say in the words of Matthew 25, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over that little that I gave you and now I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your Master. That's what we live for, dear Christian. Live for that day. Set your eyes on Christ seeking that day. Walk with Him. Serve with Him to the praise of the glory of His grace. But it all begins, doesn't it, in that you have surrendered to Him. That you have taken a yoke upon. That you've seen your selfishness and sin. And that you've been living for self and for nothing bigger than you. And that's a dead end. That's the most pitiful place in the universe to be. Because this universe will not bend itself to you. No matter what lie you believe, you can tell yourself all manner of lies. I mean, you can say, I'm a girl, you can say, I'm this, I'm that, I'm smart enough, I'm strong. Whatever lies you want that Jedi voice speaking, you can say them, you can fall for them, you can believe them, but if they're delusional, they'll lead to a catastrophic wreck. The truth is, there is a God and you are not Him. And He sent His Son to take the load of sin off of you. so that if you would turn from that sin and follow Him, be yoked to Him by faith, He will give you this life and grace and work in you and through you for your good and His glory and the benefit of those around you. He'll teach you to be a servant. He'll help you to walk that new kind of life. Oh, you'll stumble, you'll fall. That's why you need brothers and sisters around you to help you back on your feet. And I need them too. And you'll get off track sometimes. That's why you need brothers and sisters in the church. And they'll come get you back on track. And you humbly submit to that. And together we keep walking with Him as He leads us along by His Spirit, with the help of these that He's put around us. And at the end of the day, we will hear that voice say, well done, good and faithful servant. That's our desire. Let's pray. Father, would You even now, right at this moment, would You let the mirror of Your Word reflect the truth about each individual life in this room? Am I living for myself or am I yoked to Christ for new life? Would you cause the soul of each person here to answer that honestly and to turn by faith to you? You give the faith, you give the ability, you give the new heart, you give the new life. Would you grant it now and then help us to be these kind of people who are learning to live this kind of life step by step Loving, caring, bearing those burdens. No longer selfistic Christians, but servants like our Lord Himself. We pray in Jesus' magnificent name. Amen.