Shoes

Recently my daughter and I have done a lot of shoe shopping. We’ve shopped for shoes for Prom, shoes for graduation, flats to run around and be comfortable in, flip flops, wedges, heals, all sorts of shoes. I have come home to discover my son has purchased new shoes also one pair was a pair of Toms, these were much like slippers, very comfortable and casual, and the other were walking shoes made to help define the muscles in your legs and buttocks as you walk. We are a family, oh dare I say a society of shoe, ehhem connoisseurs. We LOVE our shoes! A pair for every occasion or every outfit! Men, don’t roll your eyes and point at the women! Men are becoming just as bad in today’s society, work shoes, flip flops, cowboy boots, workout shoes, church shoes, shoes to get dirty, shoes to go out. Come on you don’t fool me!

You know what shoes are teaching me? I know, that I’ve lost my mind! Haha

That as many different types of shoes as there are in my closet, yes, in MY CLOSET ALONE, that is probably how many different types of personalities I will have to deal with today! Yes TODAY!

So what does that have to do with anything? I don’t believe we were made to be best friends with every person we encounter or even have a relationship with. However, Jesus teaches us in John that we are to “love one another”. Loving one another and being friends are two completely different things. Love is a God-given characteristic and being a friend is a human quality. So I actually can love someone without being their friend, because it’s not me doing the loving but Christ loving them through me.

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.(ESV)

I think the variety of shoes/personalities can also be beneficial to us when we think about how we respond to each other. Look at what we can learn from each other. How we can mature one another. I love the idea that my fellow man can teach me God’s principles without even knowing it. It’s not always an easy lesson, but if God is teaching it, it is ALWAYS a quality one.

Proverbs 27:17

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.(ESV)

The next time you look at a pile of shoes yours, your child’s’, your husbands, oh excuse me men, your wives, whoever’s shoes, may it remind you of all the people you are about to come in contact with. How will you respond? Will you love them? Will you let God use them to “sharpen” you?

Living in Grace,

Angie