First, good friends should edify each other. That means to build each other up. We should help each other because we all need it. So, at times we are a bit of a shepherd to our friends, even though it’s not true all the time. The idea that helping a friend when they ask you for advice means you are shepherding them probably sounds odd. But, you are. You’re just not in an official teacher-student role. It is in the role of a brother or sister, as outlined in many verses. Galatians 6:1-2 is a case in point:
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. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
First, note that those who are spiritual are the ones who are supposed to restore. That means to bring the person back onto the right path. If someone is drowning, they can’t be pulled up by a weaker person. They can only be pulled up by a stronger one. That’s why, on rare occasions, a child of six or seven has saved a younger sibling from choking. But, you don’t see them as lifeguards or anything.
Now, notice that this verse says to restore them. It doesn’t mean to let them live however they want. You can make a point in a loving way, without being overly critical.
The reason we should never be overly critical comes next. We can all fall for the same temptations. This is the true meaning of verses about judging. The world tries to say we shouldn’t judge anything. That is twisting the meaning, often for a person’s selfish reasons. What we should never judge is a person’s heart or salvation. That’s because we are all human. The flesh, as we’ll see later, still leads us to sin. It’s just that we have God the Holy Spirit inside us, helping us not to sin. But, a person still has to listen to the Spirit guiding their lives. And, we all slip up and go our own way at times.
In a way, we should be judging ourselves most of all Making sure we don’t fall for the same thing others are.
The next verse tells us to bear each other’s burdens. That verse is connected with the previous verse, because it is showing how we can help. People have burdens you can bear by listening and helping them. Just like our example of being that compassionate ear for a person – even a parent – to cry on, even if you can’t help physically.
