Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
—Galatians 6:2

If there are people who always seem to be turning to you to solve their problems and meet their needs, such as your child, a spouse, a friend, or even a parent, ask yourself, "Am I helping, or am I enabling? Am I trying to fix them? Do I need to be needed by them? Am I standing in the way of what the Lord wants to do in their life?"

When it comes to helping others, the apostle Paul says, "Every man shall bear his own burden" (Galatians 6:5). It means that you "have your own knapsack," and you're to set healthy boundaries as to what gets put in it. You are responsible for not putting more in your knapsack than you can carry. You must not allow people to dump their issues on you and make you feel responsible to carry them. To allow that enables the person to perpetuate their behavior, because a behavior tolerated is a behavior perpetuated.

When Paul says we are to bear "one another's burdens," it's a different word. It means that when life gets too heavy on another person, you are to help that person lift their hands during that time. God wants you to support others who are in need but never take on the responsibility for their lives.

A person who is in perpetual need of you is a person who has more need of you than of God. For instance, it's one thing to help a person with a legitimate financial need, and it's another thing to bail someone out every time they get in a financial mess. You need to help that person begin to trust God to meet his or her needs, because only God is able to always be there for another person. Only God is able to meet all needs. Only God is able to heal, restore, deliver, and bring a person to wholeness. You cannot be "God" to them. He never wants you to take on the role of the Holy Spirit or to be the end-all and be-all for another person. Recognize that you can't be all things to all people.

The Bible never instructs us to turn all our problems over to another person. It instructs us to cast our cares upon the Lord. The truth is, God wants each of us to trust Him as the source of our provision, direction, and healing. He doesn't want us to look to another person other than Him for our plan and purpose in life.

Related Texts: John 13:34–35; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 10:24; James 2:14–17