Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Tuesday February 24 2026
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Galatians 6:1-2-Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
In this text, Paul says that Christians need to “restore” brethren who have fallen by the wayside. Let’s take a closer look at this word, and see what we can learn from it.
The great practical interest of katartizein lies in the fact that it is the word used in Gal. 6.1, for, as the AV puts it, ‘restoring’ a brother who is taken in fault. If, then, we can penetrate into its meaning it will greatly assist us in forming a correct view of the method and purpose of Christian discipline. In classical Greek it has a wide variety of meanings, all of which can be gathered together under one or other of two heads. (i) It means ‘to adjust, to put in order, to restore’. Hence it is used of pacifying a city which is tom by faction; of setting a limb that has been dislocated; of developing certain parts of the body by exercise; of restoring a person to his rightful mind; of reconciling friends who have become estranged. (ii) It is used of ‘equipping or fully furnishing someone or something for some given purpose’. So it is used of fitting out a ship and it is used of an army, fully armed and equipped, and drawn up in battle-array. Its uses in the papyri do not add greatly to our insight into its meaning. There, too, it is used of something ‘prepared for a given purpose or person’. It is, for instance, so used of clothes which have been made and prepared for someone to wear…It is the word which is used of the disciples ‘mending their nets’ (Matt. 4.21; Mark 1.19). It may possibly there mean that they were ‘folding up the nets’. But whether it means mending or folding up the idea is that the nets were being prepared for future use. (William Barclay, New Testament Words (The William Barclay Library), 168-169 (Kindle Edition): Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press)
The idea of restoration thus teaches us some very important lessons.
First, restoration implies something which was once whole and has then somehow become broken. There is a good state that exists, which is then disrupted. In the passage before us, we are reminded that the brokenness under consideration is that which is caused by sin. This reminds us that sin is not something trivial: it is very serious. It causes breaches in everything vital. Sin ruptures our relationship with God, and with our fellow human beings. It disrupts families, societies, and nations. It brings chaos and destruction to the spiritual and moral fiber of the universe, while also infecting the physical elements and causing suffering. This all leads to death. Indeed, this all gives us a better understanding of why sin itself is such an affront to God. Sin ruins the perfect ideal for humanity that is at the heart of God’s good desire for us!
The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be…God is, after all, not arbitrarily offended. God hates sin not just because it violates his law but, more substantively, because it violates shalom, because it breaks the peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be…. We may safely describe evil as any spoiling of shalom, whether physically (e.g., by disease), morally, spiritually, or otherwise. (Sean McDowell and Johnathan Morrow, Is God Just A Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised By The New Atheists, 3268-32277 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Digital Editions)
So restoration is first the understanding that something which was whole has become broken.
Second, restoration is about healing designed to bring that which is broken back to its original form of wholeness. We bring back the erring brother to God’s original ideal standard, as far as possible. The goal of restoration is not to encourage a person to continue in sin or in brokenness: it is about helping them to come to God’s good plan as outlined in His Word. It has often been said that the church is a hospital for sinners. This is a beautiful illustration! But what a terrible hospital would it be if the ones admitted were never treated to bring healing!
Restoration is about returning to God’s purpose and design for future fellowship and service.
Third, restoration is both an event and a process. When we stray from the Lord and are restored in repentance, He forgives and cleanses us with His precious blood (1 John 1:7). However, that event of restoration begins a process of healing and growth which continues all through life. Usually in the Bible, this process is called “sanctification.” Drug addicts in recovery especially understand this concept, as they “get clean” and then endeavor “one day at a time” to “stay clean.”
It’s a process.
Fourth, this process of restoration is often difficult and painful. The word translated “restore” here often had reference to the setting and splinting or casting of a broken bone. Anyone who has ever had a broken bone knows that this is usually very painful. Indeed, the process of setting the broken bone and its being healed is often irritable in addition to being painful. We must embrace the pain that the healing of our brokenness brings. This may mean the pain of facing trauma, of making amends to those whom we have wronged, of cutting off bad associations, of working to overcome destructive elements within ourselves, etc.
Restoration can be painful: but sometimes that pain is vital.
Finally, restoration is a team effort. We need each other in the family of Christ. In the church, we are all doctors and nurses to one degree or another. We are called to minister to each other’s needs, as we are able. This calls for us to identify and learn to use our gifts.
What can we contribute to the church?
How can I help my brothers and sisters in their brokenness?
This will also mean that we need to learn to be loving, compassionate, patient, and-perhaps hardest of all-forgiving toward each other.
What are we contributing to the team?
Lord, restore us. And help us to restore each other when we fall. Amen.