Have you ever given a bad first impression?

I certainly have. My mom can tell you way too many stories about me meeting people and being so awkward, quiet, shy, and overall giving a very bad first impression.

She often very fondly (and cruelly) remembers the time I met this girl when I was thirteen. The girl (her name is Olivia) was a year older than I was, and our moms had connected in the neighborhood and obviously thought we’d be perfect for each other: homeschooled, Christian girls? Oh yeah, automatic besties.

Well, I gave probably the worst first impression ever. It’s humiliating to think about to this day. Olivia would ask me polite questions like, “What books do you read?” or “What movies do you like?” and such. And I would reply, not with a good, in-depth or interesting answer but with, “Um………..Harry Potter…………….what about you?”

Y’all. It was bad. I remember being in so much mental pain and I was so stressed, and me, Olivia, her mom, and my mom were all cringing big time.

Well guess what? As horrible as my first impression was, Olivia and I are best friends now, and we have been for almost five years.

I guess my first impression wasn’t actually as terrible as I thought it was. (It was still pretty horrendous.)

What am I getting at here?

Well at some point we come to God for the first time. And we have a first impression of him, one that is typically wrong.

I don’t know about you, but I used to picture God as some old white guy with long white hair and a flowing robe. You know, like the paintings and such. As for his personality, he was a grumpy, hating, harsh, commanding man.

But this is the wrong image, it’s the wrong first impression!

But once you get to know God and his true self, you will hopefully find that he is quite the opposite of this! He’s not old, he’s just eternal. He’s not grumpy, hating, harsh, or commanding; he’s joyful, funny, wise, and gentle.

You see, even if someone’s first impression seems really horrible, that doesn’t mean that they actually are horrible. It’s always those first impressions that get us. So with that, give it another shot to get to know God! He wants to get to know you.

I hope that you don’t have the wrong impression of God. If you want to find out who he truly is, I recommend looking up the verses below!

1. Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭5‬

2. Psalms‬ ‭86‬:‭15‬

3. Psalms‬ ‭86‬:‭15‬

4. Romans 5:8

5. 1. John 1:5

6. 1 John 1:9

I hope this was an enjoyable read!

~Willow 🤎