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Until we’ve walked at least a mile in someone else’s shoes we need to be very cautious of how we react to him or her, and their particular situation. This includes, but does not always mean, that we’ve personally gone through a similar experience and survived. There are as many different reactions to the same situation as there are people involved.

Galatians 6:2 says for us to "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."  Yet verse five seems to contradict verse two. "For every man shall bear his own burden." There is no contradiction in the word of God. Every man has burdens he alone must bear (live with) yet every Christian is to help bear (lift or help carry) that heavy burden. You can’t possibly know my painful burden to its fullest extent any more than I can know yours. Yet, we are commanded of God that we help one another cope with these burdens of life.

It’s easy for us to misjudge and condemn another when we haven’t walked where they are walking. If we want mercy and compassion from others then we must first be merciful and compassionate. It is very easy to be a miserable comforter like Job had, yet when pain comes home to us we are usually the first to yell, "but you don’t understand what I’m going through."

Have you ever seen the good cop/bad cop routine? Sometimes we like to play the good cop/bad cop game when trying to deal with each other. If compassion and patience don't work we try intimidation and fear. One way or another we are going to hurry up another person’s progress.  Yet when it comes to us we want more patience and a longer time to recuperate.

We need to try to walk a mile in one another’s shoes. We need to envision some of the pain and confusion another soul is going through. There are no easy answers just like there are no quick cures, and not all troubles are caused because the sufferer has committed some ungodly sin. John 9:1-3 says, "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

In bearing one another’s burdens we need patience! We may take one step forward and two steps back. When this happens, and it usually does, we do not need nor want to be prodded along like a bunch of cattle. We need compassion from one who desires our best interests. Too many times we are like the person who pulls and tugs on a leash when trying to train a new puppy. Do we realize if we call and encourage a puppy with a new collar and leash they become more comfortable with it on and the training time can be cut in half? The same is true when trying to help someone come through a new or different experience. If we try to pull and tug on them, and become impatient we do far more damage and it takes a longer time for them to cope.

I know there are those of us who feel we do not have time to waste on anyone who, we feel, doesn’t want help. We may use the excuse that we don’t have patience with "such people." We’ve told them what to do, even quoted scripture, and they should have gotten on with life by now, and started to be a help and not a hindrance! My friend, may I remind each of us that patience is a virtue? If we do not have patience for others then do not expect patience from others in return.

Before we start to criticize and abuse each other let us remember to first walk a mile in their shoes. Here are a few do’s and don’ts we could follow.        

Things to do:

1. Pray for that person.
2. Ask for wisdom, understanding, and guidance.
3. Study God’s Word for direction and knowledge.
4. Be available.
5. Remember a kind word, or deed shows you care.
6. Follow Galatians 6:1

Things not to do:

1. Offer your advice or opinion -- wait to be asked for it.
2. Act or portray yourself as having all knowledge and wisdom.
3. Think because you have been saved longer that your advice is best.
4. Be afraid to help if God opens the way.
5. Be afraid to admit you don’t have all the answers.
6. Try to push someone else to grow just so they can be what you feel they should be.

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