Hear me out, guys…
First impressions count!
They do
I’ve met people I didn’t “like” on our first encounter. I thought they were lazy or rude etc. only to be given a second encounter and go like, “wait, she’s actually nice”.
This is one lesson that managed to repeat itself throughout last year.
My impressions of certain people kept changing as I spent more time with them.
I realized that sometimes, it was my own shortcomings that I was projecting onto these people and they did nothing wrong.
So, I choose discernment and grace over judgment.
I admit that with all the weirdness going on in the world, there will be nasty, rude, unkind people around, but it’s only appropriate that as bearers of light, we extend grace (forgiving them just as Christ forgave us) to people regardless of how they treat us the first time.
What does extending grace look like?
*They’re probably having a bad day.
*They’re probably tired.
*They offended me but I forgive them.
What does discernment look like?
*I feel deeply in my spirit that this is someone who could really benefit from the light God has given me.
*This is someone I should be wary of.
*It’s best we remain acquaintances and not close friends because our values do not align.
But I do admit that a first impression says a lot about who you are as a person. If someone enters a room shabbily dressed, he or she will not be taken seriously, however, if that same person enters with a power suit, trust me he'll have the attention and respect of the whole room.
If someone approaches you with a beautiful smile and eloquent speech, you might be swayed to think she is a nice person when she might just be putting on a show.
And that's one lesson for us to learn. Humans are ruled by sight, if you want to please men, you have to look pleasing to their sight. But God judges by the heart, it takes an activation of discernment to see as God sees.
That's why balance is necessary.
I’m learning it’s quite unfair to form fundamental impressions about someone based on one encounter.
I’m also learning that it can take just one encounter to know that someone has bad intentions if you are led by the Spirit.
In order to survive this unstable environment, we'll need a balance of extending grace and exercising discernment-not suspicion- in all our interactions. Knowing when to step back and when to move forward in that relationship regardless of the first impression.
After everything, I think I should rephrase my title-"First impressions count but discernment is more important".That sounds more appropriate, doesn't it?
It does
That's a lovely piece to walk it. The reframed topic says it all. Thanks and God richly bless you for the light