Til you wear the shoes

What  motivates someone to judge another person's actions?
Is it compassion?
Is it love?
Or is it jealousy, pride, arrogance and selfishness?


It seems to be the latter more often.

Why?

Have you really tried to put yourself aside?
Have you really?

Do you ever really know another person's motives and thoughts?

Can you consider a different perspective?

Can you admit that you may be wrong?

I think that as a Christian it is my responsibility to show compassion.
I want to be as loving as Christ.
I want to set aside my jealousy, pride and arrogance.
I want to understand people and meet them where they are at that moment.

I am sometimes successful.
I sometimes fail.

I am sorry when I fail others. I will try harder to understand.
I will give others the benefit of the doubt.
I choose to believe their motives to be good.

It really hurts when others misjudge my motives.
It really hurts when others judge my actions wrongly.
It especially hurts when it is people whom I thought knew me and understood me make judgements that are not true.

I imagine it must have been painful for Jesus when people misjudged His actions.
It must have hurt when He was judged wrongly by people.
It must have been extremely painful when Judas, one of His chosen disciples turned against Him.

Jesus was perfect. He had no wrong motives. EVER
He always set aside jealousy, pride and arrogance.
He understands and accepts me where I am at that very moment.

We can show love for others by attempting to walk in their shoes.
When we accept people right where they are at that moment we have the opportunity to show them a small glimpse of how God loves them.

How do we walk in our neighbor's shoes?
Their shoes won't fit us.
Their shoes may be uncomfortable.
Their shoes may not be our style.

It's ok.
We don't have to wear them for long to get some understanding.

Let's get practical now.
First pray daily for God to give you understanding.
When you pray for your loved ones, pray that you can be a blessing to them.
When you pray for the lost, pray that you may be a refreshing break in their day.
Pray for peace and patience.

When you are interacting with anyone try to not be reactive.
When someone says something sharp or outright mean, don't take it personally.
It is probably not about you but about them.

Remind yourself that perception is different for everyone. We don't see things exactly the same. We can be in the same place at the same time and still perceive what happened differently.
Sometimes we are very close seeing things and other times you will wonder if you were really in the same room.

It is easier to practice on strangers and acquaintances than those who are close to you.
However, we must practice more on those who are close. We need to be the hands and feet of Christ.