Galatians 6:1

The Greek word for overtaken implies an element of surprise, therefore the type of trespass here is one that overtakes a person suddenly rather than one that was deliberately planned. We are to be constantly on guard in our Christian walk to avoid stumbling along the way, but when someone suddenly falls, God’s heart is one of restoration. The word for restoration means repair or mend so our mindset is supposed to be constructive in regards to a brother or sister who has been overtaken in a trespass. The spiritual are commanded to restore such a person because they have a gentle (Galatians 5:23) mindset just like Jesus did when He ministered and because they will be cautious and take heed lest they also fall into the same temptation themselves.

Do you know a sister who has stumbled and is going through a difficult season, perhaps absent from church lately? Do you know a brother who has stumbled and has had to even step back from ministry? Our job is to reach out to them, encourage them with scripture, pray for them, and pray with them. Meet them for coffee, send them a text, be an encourager, because the enemy wants them to fall by the wayside and be forgotten. God’s heart, on the other hand, is that the person is restored and built back up. As the Proverb states, “Iron sharpens iron,” but the only way that happens is if the sharpening iron physically comes into contact with the blade being sharpened. We can only working at restoring a person by being in contact with them.

Jeff Mericle