Bearing Burdens At The Gym

We are two weeks into January, which means it’s time to do a check-in.

Remember those New Year’s resolutions you set thirteen days ago? How are they going? Have you fallen off the wagon? Statistics state that, after two weeks, about 71% of people who set resolutions are still sticking to them. So congratulations to 71% of you! Whether you’re eating healthy, saving money, spending less time on your phone, or more time at the gym - I wish you well.

I’ve spent many mornings at the gym myself this New Year, and this newfound hobby has already taught me a lot. I was working out with two friends last week, alongside many other “resolution-setters,” when something funny happened. My one workout partner, a former personal trainer, was consistently coaching me as I struggled to complete my set on a certain machine. When I would reach the point of wanting to stop, she would help me push the weight. She wouldn’t take over completely - I was still bearing the majority of the weight - but she’d provide just enough support to help me keep going.

My other friend, the jokester of our friend group, had very different instincts. On one exercise, he stood behind me and, unbeknownst to me, leaned on the weight, nearly doubling the amount I thought I was lifting. I completed the set and felt extra proud - and annoyed - when I realized his ploy.

It’s a New Year and, as we set goals and make changes, it’s easy to think it’s an individual process. But life change, and spiritual change, for that matter, can’t happen alone. God created us for community. God created us with a need for relationship. Ecclesiastes 4:9 tells us, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.”

As you pray over your New Year and work to maintain your resolutions, can I encourage you to take a good, hard look at the community you have surrounded yourself with? 2021 wasn’t an easy year, and we’re just two weeks into 2022 and there already have been myriad challenges.

Let’s not walk through this year alone. Let’s bear the weight of life together. Let’s find people to hold us accountable as we accomplish our goals. Two are better than one. God wants us to band together, as we navigate the chaos and beauty of our broken world.

In Galatians 6, Paul gives some wise words when it comes to community and helping those who might be struggling with sin:

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

- Galatians 6:1-2

We are to restore each other, and bear one another’s burdens. When the weight is too much, when we can’t do one more rep, our community comes alongside us and bears the weight with us. Just like my workout buddy, we lift on another up. We can’t hold the entirety of one’s struggle, but we hold enough to help them persevere.

I pray you would find friends that would support you. That would lift the weight with you. That would bear your burdens. And if you have friends like my not-so-helpful gym pal, ones who add more weight, who only take and don’t give, I pray you would be able to set boundaries. I pray you would be able to have honest conversations within those relationships and protect yourself.

And, dear friend, I pray you would be able to be that kind of support to the people around you. To your church family, to your spouse, to your loved ones, to your neighbors. Would we be the kind of people who make the burdens of life feel lighter. Would we lift others up, just like Christ does for us.

It’s a New Year. Let’s find new opportunities to come together, to be light to each other, to be good neighbors.

Cristina Schmitter

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