Galatians 1:5

for each one should carry his own load.

(v5, NIV)

My first response to this is that it is contradictory to verse 2. A burden is also a load in which people carry. If we are instructed to carry each other's burdens in verse 2, why does it instruct us to carry our own load in verse 5? With respect to the first few verses, we are to carry each other's burdens. These burdens they carry could be anything, but this passage is referring to the burden of sin. Many people are burdened with sin. People can be weighed down with the burden of guilt for committing sin. They can be weighed down with the consequences of sin. These types of burdens people are weighed down with are the types of burdens we are to help them carry.

What are the loads that are referred to in verse 5? Though burden and load can refer to the same thing, they are both different words. Paul could have used the word "load" in verse 2, but he didn't. Paul could have used the word "burden" in verse 5, but he didn't. So, they are different even though they both refer to something we bear or carry.

Verse 4 refers to testing our own actions. When we stand before God, we are not saved because someone else is saved. Simply, we are saved because we are saved. Some people may think that just because their parents are saved, they too are saved. If their parents are saved, the parents are probably making earnest attempts to present the gospel to their children. However, just because someone's parents are saved doesn't mean that they themselves are saved. I feel verse 5 refers partially to this idea, but not entirely.

The load in verse 5 is the load in which God has assigned us to carry. Each person has in their lives a path to walk shown to us by God. There are many specific paths in which we take and in doing so led by God we hopefully are fulfilling the work he calls us to do. There is also the saving work of Jesus by whom we are saved. If we are to follow Christ, we must carry our cross daily. There is this aspect of bearing the marks of Jesus which we must live up to. We have a load to carry and a life to live. In carrying our load and showing that we are able to hold up what we are given to bear, we then can bear one another's burdens. If you can't even carry your own load, how can you help carry someone else's burden? Carry your own load, and live a life worthy of your calling.