It is the freedom of the other ... that is a burden to Christians. The freedom of the other goes against Christians' high opinions of themselves, and they must recognize it. Christians could rid themselves of this burden by not giving other persons their freedom, thus doing violence to the personhood of others and stamping their own image on others. But when Christians allow God to create God's own image in others, they allow others their own freedom. Thereby Christians themselves bear the burden of the freedom enjoyed by these other creatures of God. All that we mean by human nature, individuality, and talent is a part of the other person's freedom - as are the other's weaknesses and peculiarities that so sorely try our patience, and everything that produces the plethora of clashes, differences, and arguments between me and the other. Here, bearing the burden of the other means tolerating the reality of the other's creation by God - affirming it, and in bearing with it, breaking through to delight in it.
A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, p. 15, taken from Life Together, p. 101.