Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God and secondly, Love your neighbor”. Jesus’ words are easy to understand but so very difficult to keep. If only each of us loved God with all our hearts and if only each of us loved our neighbor, wouldn’t so many problems automatically disappear!?!
Consider this – what if we simply tried to walk in the shoes of another person for a little while.? What if we thought about the hurt our words might cause before we uttered them? What if we thought about the hurt that our postings might cause before we posted those words on Facebook?
What if kindness replaced cutthroat competition? What if uplifting words replaced gossip and slander? What if love replaced hate, peace replaced conflict, patience replaced impatience, and goodness replaced evil thoughts and deeds? What if we empathized with each other by walking in their shoes for a moment instead of running in our own shoes for personal gain at the expense of someone else?
What if all of those things happened? Some would call it Heaven, but when Jesus gives us the greatest and the second greatest commands, he is talking about people living in harmony here and now. That is kingdom living. I would call it seeking to build the kingdom that God calls us to build here on earth. That is what we are called to do. People who love God and neighbor before themselves are the disciples that Jesus calls us to be.
Empathize – walk in another’s shoes for awhile.