- Romans 15:1 (NLT) We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.
Maybe it’s because I’m left-handed and have heard more times than I can count expressions like: “Look he’s writing with the wrong hand.” But I’ve noticed when traveling in countries where people drive on the opposite side of the road that we USAmericans are apt to make comments about them driving on the “wrong” side of the road.
Thankfully I once had a wise traveling companion ask me how I’d feel if people from the country I was visiting came to my country and made jokes about how we drove on the wrong side of the road.
Since then when I visit countries that drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in the good ole US of A I point out how they drive on the other side of the road then we do.
This reminds me of another teachable moment I once had; it was while ministering in South America. I kept mentioning how “we Americans back home” do this and do that. After my message my translator very nicely mentioned, “You know, we’re Americans too.” Oops!
Isn’t it funny (or sad) how we look at others through the “lens” of our lives?
Remember, people can be different without being wrong.
Whether on vacation or at work or home, I encourage you to make the effort of looking at life through the eyes of the other person; trust me, it will make things go a lot more smoothly in building bridges and solving problems.
Related articles
- The Right (and Left) Stuff: Why Countries Drive on Different Sides of the Road (newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)
The ONE THING 