When you see a small child wearing his parent’s shoes, it seems quite laughable. When a full-grown man tries to squeeze his big foot into a tiny shoe it can seem impossible. When we wear shoes that are inappropriate for us – like steel toed flip flops- well, as usual, I digress. My point is that wearing another person’s shoes is not an easy task. Even though this seems laughable or impossible, the fact is, it should be required of us. To wear a pair of shoes like the ones shown in the image I’ve chosen, might be hard to do. They don’t look very comfortable. They’re worn out and shabby. They’ve gone through a lot of trouble along the way. Is that how you view the person who might be wearing them?

I’ve seen homeless people wearing shoes like this. I’ve also seen them wearing brand new expensive tennis shoes. I’ve seen boots that have been worn for 20 years and still can stand the test of time. I’ve seen shoes that have been contributed to a thrift store that have never been worn. There are shoes, sandals and loafers that can’t be parted with, because they’re just getting broken in. The use of this phrase is not about physically wearing another person’s shoes, but about sharing what the person wearing them is dealing with in their life. It’s a colloquialism which demonstrates putting yourself in someone else’s place. We don’t always do that today. We basically look out for ourselves. The word compassion comes to mind. Being sympathetic, caring, and having a listening ear are door openers that live in the shadows today. It’s really sad that new age communication has suffered because of technology.

This is a new age – revolutionary time of change. We’re facing all kinds of new obstacles as we open our eyes to a new day. It is no longer acceptable to hug anyone outside of your own family. We contain our feelings. We don’t really communicate face to face anymore. God gave us the ability to care – to love – to show empathy – sympathize – and to work things out together. We need to be with others. We may even need to relearn how to do that as our culture changes. In the meantime, it might be good to just try wearing their shoes for a while.

John 15:12 ESV “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”