As the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts it allows Christians to not live in competition, but now we live as brothers and sisters. And every time you read brothers, please read sisters as well. As brothers and sisters now we are free to encourage and help each other. So when we see a brother caught in any transgression or sin, we are called to help! If we are filled with conceit this will not be our response. In our conceited superiority, we would look down on them and be glad we are not them. In our conceited inferiority, we would never risk pointing out their sin, because we crave their approval too much. In the gospel, we are free to encourage and help. Paul is not saying that we confront anyone we see sinning in any way. We are not to be quick to criticize and tell people about all of their faults. Paul is talking about not overlooking anyone that is overtaken by a sin in their lives. This would be a sinful behavior becoming a pattern and that behavior that has gotten the upper hand that the person will not be able to overcome without outside help. Those who are spiritual are not some elite group of people, but it is those who are walking and living in the Holy Spirit. What’s the goal of this? The goal is restoration and a restoration that is done gently. The ends do not justify the means in a situation like this. The goal is gentleness, just like the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. We bear one another’s burdens and we fulfill the law of Christ. The law says, “Love your neighbor.” You cannot help carry the burden of someone else unless you come very close to the burdened person. You have to put your own strength under the burden of another so that its weight is distributed amongst both of you. This is what it looks like to love your neighbor. Love sets people free. 

Verses 3-5 shift us back to a discussion on humility and pride. If we think too highly of ourselves we will never have a servant’s heart that is necessary to care for our brothers and sisters. Then we test our own work and bear our own load. This seems contradictory, but the words for load here and burden are different. A burden is a heavy weight we are called to help each other with. A load refers to a kind of backpack. God has given us a different set of difficulties and opportunities. We have been given a different set of weaknesses as well as gifts. It is our responsibility to steward those well in this life in responsibility for what God has given us.