In Their Shoes

It is so easy to get aggravated with another person who does not do something the way we believe they should. It is so easy to get upset with what someone says or does and want to react in a hurtful way. It is so easy to get annoyed when something happens to us we feel is unfair. However, when we feel others hurt us we really need to look at the bigger picture and think about how it would be if we were in their shoes.

Sometimes the things we feel are happening to us aren’t really about us at all. Some things happen because the other person has something going on in their life or has an issue to deal with which causes them to lash out at us. We need to be careful about reacting back in a negative way and think about what may have caused them to get upset. We should pray asking God to help us understand them and help them.

Ephesians 4:2-3 “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

Sometimes the other person does something unintentionally to us. There are times when a person may be doing something and not know what they are doing is annoying us. They may be doing what they have always done. Most people have habits of doing small things which can be annoying to others. Most people have little irritating annoyances which can, over time, can get on our nerves. We should remember not to be too quick to react and ask God to help us look past them.

When we are upset, we can’t always be ready and wanting to look at the bigger picture and put ourselves in their shoes. We want to be the one who has the last word and we want to be right. That is why we need to go to God to help us see what He wants us to do in all situations. When we step back and keep our mouths closed, God can help us do what He knows is the right thing to do.

We should be willing to put ourselves in the other persons’ shoes before taking action. We need to make our minds up now the next time we are aggravated, we will allow God to step in and give us time to react so we react according to how He wants us to. We need to make a conscious effort to create a new practice of thinking about the other person’s situation before we make things worse. We can begin by reading His word daily and asking Him to prepare our hearts.

Allowing time before reacting to someone who upsets us will help us keep the peace. We will then have time to go to God for His answer to the solution. Thinking through what issues they may be dealing with before making the situation worse with a bad response will help us to become more caring. When we take time to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes and not overreact, we can set the example and make a difference.