What's the difference between being used by the Lord and just being used?

I decided to write a Bible study based on the question,"What is the difference between being used by the Lord and just being used?" I did not decide to write this study because I knew the answer but because I needed to know the answer.

The book of James tells us that if we are lacking in wisdom that we can ask God and He will give it to us. So I decided to ask God my question and then tell others what I found out. What follows is God's answer to my prayer.

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ...each will have to bear his own load." Galatians 6:2-5 This scripture became the bases for my study. It also became a subject of prayer because I could not figure out what it meant. Because I believed God would answer my prayer for wisdom I continued to study and pray until finally I understood.

When I bear another persons burden with the aim of fulfilling the law of Christ it means I love them sacrificially. It means I deny myself and place another persons welfare above my own. It does NOT mean that I take some one's responsibility away them. To take away some one's responsibility is to take away their dignity and elevate myself above them.Therefore,"each will have to bear his own load".

I have done it wrong so many times and the results are always the same. When I take some one's responsibly away from them I end up resenting them. I feel taken advantage of, crippled because I'm doing their responsibility instead of my own. But I'm not the only one who feels resentful, the person I'm "helping" feels resentment as well. I end up crippling the person I wanted to help because God given loads strengthen us. When I try to take that load from someone I am being arrogant not loving.

Yesterday I saw a man do it right and the memory of it has stayed with me like a sweet perfume. I was standing in a check out line behind a man with his disabled daughter. Her gait was stumbling her arms seemed to fly about uncontrollably and her eyes rolled back into their sockets. The father's tone was kind as he asked for her opinion about what she wanted to buy. He gently lifted her burden but let her carry her own load. What I observed was a man who was fulfilling the law of Christ.

So what's the difference between being used by the Lord and just being used? I think to know the answer to that I need to ask myself this question," Is my goal to fulfill the law of Christ or to be some one's savior?" Fulfilling the law of Christ involves deep humility. When I think I can be someones savior it is a picture of pride.

Lord Jesus I come to You again for wisdom. My life is stained by this type of arrogant pride. Please give me the wisdom to fulfill the law of Christ and become the sweet fragrance of You in my world just like the man I saw yesterday.