A Mile in Their Shoes

A choice could change your life, or someone else’s. A choice could destroy your life, or save someone else’s.  Imagine, our very lives and where they are heading are based on choices.  Life is just choice; you could end it in a second. And many teenagers do. Between the ages of 15 and 34, one of the three leading causes of death is suicide. Teen suicide is a terrible, but I believe preventable, death. How worthless and hopeless do you have to feel to choose to end your own life?  How alone and desperate must you be to commit suicide? Suicide is just one choice, but so is choosing to save a life.

If we just reached out to those who don’t fit in, to those no one bothers to talk to, to those who are alone and struggling, perhaps we could save someone’s life. It’s so easy to judge and to look the other way. When we look at other people, we may think: “That person’s just so weird..... that teen is just too wild... why should I even want to be their friend?” But what if we chose to live out Christ’s love towards people who are usually pushed aside because they aren’t cool enough or are just different?  Instead of condemning, what if we followed in Jesus’ footsteps by being a friend to the unruly and wild ones? A smile, a kind word, or just a gesture that shows that they’re not invisible or too far gone to be saved goes a long way.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives and affairs that we forget about others. I’m speaking to myself here. How many times have I judged someone by mere appearance? How many times have I looked the other way because I thought someone was too strange, wild or annoying to waste any time on them? Too many times to count. But the truth is, every person on this earth is broken inside and just covering it up in their different ways. Each person has a story, has some kind of struggle they’re going through and just need help. Every person on earth as a void inside them that only Jesus can fill. Everyone, including me and you, needs to be healed by the Saviour. I’m so quick to condemn, but how can I judge when I have no idea what someone else is going through, when I haven’t walked a mile in their shoes? Instead of judging or ignoring others, we should be showing the people around us the love of Jesus. We should be showing them that there is Someone who loves them so much that He died for them. Our actions should point others to Jesus. And who knows, the choice to be friendly and kind to another could be the one that causes them to choose life over death.