In 2009, my mother went home to be with the Lord. One of the things I got from her house was an old beat up dresser that my siblings just wanted to throw away. I brought it home because my daughter wanted it as a keepsake. Together, we spent a week restoring it. When we stripped and sanded away layers of old paint that had been on it for decades, we discovered beautiful marbled wood. Then we stained it and added three new ornate handles matching the other ones. When it was all finished, we had a surprisingly beautiful and cherished family heirloom.

In Galatians 6:1, Paul tells the saints: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” The simple truth is that this is not the way most believers act. Instead, we seem very quick to just throw such a brother or sister onto the junk heap of discarded relationships. Instead, the Apostle of Grace instructs us to demonstrate grace toward an erring brother. By way of illustration, we are to see all who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation as members of our own body. When we do, we realize: “…the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee. Nay…those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary” (I Corinthians 12:21-22). When one part of our body is injured, we don’t just lop it off and throw it away. Instead, we attend to it and nurse it back to health. In Galatians, Chapter 6, Paul, in effect, is saying we are only truly “spiritual” if we treat other erring saints with the same care that we use to treat ourselves. Moreover, we are to help them correct their error in a “spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1), rather than lambasting or avoiding them. In so doing, we seek to “bear…one another’s burdens” fulfilling the law of love (6:2), and we will do so without being easily “weary in well doing” (6:9). If we won’t seek to restore others, even if we “think…[ourselves] to be something…[we are] nothing” (6:3) when it comes to being truly spiritual.

Is there someone in your life or your church that needs you to demonstrate the kind of grace that will restore a relationship with them? Let the Lord speak to your heart and take action today.