I’ve written a lot about how dangerous it is to reprimand others for an evil that you participate in. For example, some people “yell” that words hurt (political correctness) and then turn around and use words to completely destroy those who stand against them.
Today while praying the simple answer finally jumped at me. If you always want to be on the side of doing what’s right for the human race – the best tool you can use is your family.
What? Yep. If you have a spouse, some children, parents or even a second cousin or two – you can go to the heart of the matter and discover truth.
It’s like an old Indian saying, Don’t judge me until you’ve walked a mile in my Moccasins. The quote is actually a poem written by Mary T. Lathrap in 1895. The original title was Judge Softly. The first verse is….
Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the moccasins he wears,
Or stumbled beneath the same load.
There may be tears in his soles that hurt
Though hidden away from view.
The burden he bears placed on your back
May cause you to stumble and fall, too.
It’s a great poem and I hope you will click over and read all of it.
My simple solution to finding truth and being right about issues consists of two actions.
- Stop talking. Use your imagination instead.
- Imagine that the act you are considering is happening with you or your family as the victim.
Do you struggle with Abortion? Imagine that the child that is scheduled to be murdered is your grand-child. Imagine that your daughter doesn’t want the abortion but that the state demands or the father insists. Imagine that you are forced to watch. Imagine that you see your grandchild’s face and he/she has your smile. Imagine that you hear the small little scream as the child is murdered just before birth. Now how do you feel?
Do you struggle with illegals from Mexico and other countries from around the world. Maybe it’s because you’ve only imagined what it would be like to need to get away from a terrible government and no way to support your family. That’s a valid point. But, what if you imagine that you live 200 miles from the border of Mexico. You are a Christian. You’ve taught your children to be kind to others. While you are at the store two illegals run on to your farm. They knock on the door and ask your teenage daughter and 7 year old son for food and water. Your children feel compassion. They ask them to wait on the porch while they get them something. They lock the door to be safe and proceed to the kitchen. The illegals break into the house abuse and then kill the children. How do you feel now? What if the illegals were only children as well. Teens addicted to drugs. Children sent over to infiltrate for the cartels or Isis. Would you want a wall or some kind of better system?
Are you apathetic about lying. Have you often said, “Oh everyone does it. So a politician or official lies now and then. That’s just the way it is.” Now, imagine that your spouse has been lying to you. You find out that they have had a 15 year affair with two other people. How do you feel about lying now?
Is porn wrong? Imagine your son is 16, has a 4.0 grade average and is the star basketball player. He visits a friends house where they investigate all the porn magazines in the house and on the internet. He can’t think of anything else. He can’t wait to find that filth on his own computer. His grades plummet. He gets a girl pregnant and her parents demand a marriage. You watch his life deteriorate. Now ask yourself if porn is wrong.
Maybe that one is a little harsh for you. Maybe you would rather think about all the evidence that marijuana isn’t bad for you. Sure…let’s remove the laws against it. Until….your daughter and son go to a homecoming party where the brownies are laced with weed. On the way home they are killed in a car accident. Would you still believe those who said, “Don’t worry….it’s okay…” or would you feel as though satan himself had fooled you and led your family down a path to destruction.
How about a more positive bent? What if you watched your cousin work 5 hours a day on his sports talent. He pushes himself more than you’ve ever seen anyone push. He has high goals. He wants to reach as far as he can. Yet, you watch him cry and hold a generic trophy because every kid on the team deserves one. You watch him become apathetic and lose his dream. His push to reveal his great talent was reduced to accommodate the worst player not recognize the best.
Hum…..it’s getting’ deep in here.
My point is simply that you can’t ever know the real truth unless you walk a mile in the “true” victims shoes. Yes, there are some people who claim to be victims but are really ideologues without compassion.
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”… (Matthew 22: 37-40)
Everything depends on the fact that first we love God with all our hearts and then we always love others with the same care and consideration we give ourselves. Sounds simple to me.
Dear Jesus, please forgive us of our sins. Please help us to love others as you have loved us. Help us to ask the question, “What would I do if I were in that same place?” and then love others with understanding and compassion.
We are facing a lot of decisions in this country. Please give us wisdom and intelligence about all those situations. But most of all, help us to see those situations as if we suffered with the same problems. After all, without your love and salvation we might be living in their moccasins.
We love you Jesus. Thank you for loving us in return.
See you tomorrow