“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2
We need to talk about the hardest part.
The first two weeks were about receiving — your worth is settled, your purpose was stitched in early. Beautiful truths. But truths you could, if you wanted, hold privately. Quietly. Without anyone ever getting close enough to see you working through them.
This week asks for more. Because you can believe you’re made in the image of God and still live completely unheld.
You know how it goes. You’re the one who remembers everyone’s hard dates. The one people call at midnight. And when someone asks how you’re doing, something in you performs a quick calculation — can they handle it? do they mean it? is there time? — and answers “I’m good” before the math is even done.
Being strong became your identity. And identities built on being strong have one rule: never be the one who needs.
The Verse You’ve Been Reading in One Direction
Galatians 6:2 — carry each other’s burdens. You’ve obeyed half of that verse your whole life. You are elite at the carrying.
But each other’s is not a one-way word. The verse doesn’t say carry others’ burdens and bury your own. Refusing to be carried isn’t humility. It isn’t even strength. It’s a quiet way of keeping the law of Christ from being fulfilled in your direction.
Here’s the tender part: being made in God’s image means being made in the image of a God who exists in relationship — Father, Son, Spirit, eternally known to one another. You were not designed for one-way love. When you give endlessly and receive nothing, you’re not living above your design. You’re living beneath it.
Known Is the Point
Somewhere along the way, you learned that being needed was safer than being known. Needed, you’re in control. Known, you can be hurt.
But you can be needed by a hundred people and known by none — and that is its own kind of hunger. The Psalmist didn’t pray search me, O God, and see how useful I am. He prayed search me and know my heart. Known is the point. It always was.
Stopping being “the strong friend” doesn’t mean becoming weak. It means becoming true — strong when you’re strong, honest when you’re not, held either way.
Living Like It
This week’s practice will cost you something. That’s how you know it’s growing you.
Choose one person — one safe, proven person — and tell them one true thing you would normally carry alone. Not the polished version. Not “it’s been a lot lately, but God is good!” The true thing.
You don’t have to unpack everything. Just crack the door. Let someone fulfill the law of Christ in your direction for once.
Reflect
Who in your life has earned the right to know the unedited you — and what has it cost you to keep them at arm’s length anyway?
This is Part 3 of the Made in the Image series. Part 4 closes the arc next Monday: you were made on purpose — now it’s time to live it out. The Becoming starts there.
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© Made in the Image Projects 2026