Help a Sista Out

For a lack of enough time for this slow typist, this will be part one.

I have heard it said of Christians, that we are the only ones who shoot our wounded. What a sad perception for someone to have of the body of Christ. Is it just their perception, or is it something they have actually observed? Do we in fact, kill off our wounded rather than take the time to restore them to health? The Galatian church must have had some problems in the area of restoring wounded Christians, why else would Paul address as he did in chapter six of the book of Galatians. While I may speak of historical times I mean to show the application for our generation today.

Brethren and sisters too, 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. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.
Galatians 6: 1-5 KJV
I believe this portion of scripture is directly related to Galatians 5:1, which reads like this: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Obviously the church of his century was much like the church of this one. People from various walks of life coming together to fellowship and worship the One who brought them out of darkness and into the Light. Members of different maturity levels functioning in diverse capacities within the church, yet all needed instructions on how to best serve God and serve one another.

Paul speaks of a man being overtaken in a fault. The fault has taken over the man. Paul does not elaborate as to how the man came to be entrapped, nor to what extent the fault rules the man's life. He is actually addressing the spiritual ones, or more correctly, the spiritually mature.
The admonition here is for the mature to restore the one that has been overtaken, and to do it with humilty rather than an air of superiority.

When you restore a piece of furniture, you do what is necessary to take it back to it's original appearance and functionality. The more delapidated, used, and abused, the more effort and resources it will take to restore it. Restoring people is similar in principle but requires the Spirit of God to be done gently and effectively.