(I recommend reading this post about first impressions with God before continuing. This is kind of part two to that post, but without actually being part two.😉)

First off, let me tell you a fun fact: at some point in life, you will come to God for the first time, ready to introduce yourself to him.

Now let’s move onto an embarrassing story. (Keep that fact in your mind though!)

Have you ever given a bad first impression?

I certainly have. I’ve given so many bad first impressions, I actually feel so bad for those people! There was one guy I talked to at youth group, he was a friend of my brother who was a freshman, and I’ll call him Dylan.

Well, I walked up to him and was like, “Hey, I’m Willow, Boone’s older sister.”

Dylan was kinda like, “Why is this rando girl wearing a shirt that says ‘bodie’ talking to me?”

Or rather, that’s what I assumed he was thinking. Turns out, he already knew who I was.

“Yeah, I know.”

Okaaaay… I was shouting at myself, “DUH, YOU’VE MET HIM BEFORE. YOU DON’T NEED TO REINTRODUCE YOURSELF LIKE YOU’RE STRANGERS.”

So I said, “Oh, right. Well, Boone’s talked a lot about you so I figured I’d come say hi.”

Wow, way to sound like a total creep. Me and my brother talk about you when you’re not around, let me tell you this on the first time we have a real conversation.

We talked for a little bit more (not a good conversation, let me tell you that) and I ended up saying, “Well, I’ll leave you alone now,” and walked away.

Y’all. It was bad. Almost as bad as my other first impression, but not quite at that level. It was quite close though.

Now, if you’re like me, then maybe you constantly are remembering that first impression, going, “Crap, they’re going to have the wrong picture of me because that was a bad first impression and I was nervous!”

Well, remember that fun fact I told you in the beginning of this post?

Here it is again in case you forgot: at some point in life, you will come to God for the first time, ready to introduce yourself to him.

That means that at some point in life, you are going to give God your first impression.

Now, you might be thinking, “If God sees everything, how does he get a first impression? He already knows me.”

Well, that’s true, but hear me out:

You will come to God, vulnerable, and honestly, you’re probably going to give him a bad first impression. If God was human, (which he’s not just so you know,) it’d be a different story.

But since God is God, he’s going to greet you with a smile and say, “Hey, it’s good to meet you. I’m so excited to get to know you better.”

We don’t have to worry about giving God a bad first impression and ruining a future relationship with him. That’s not what he’s looking at. He’s looking at you, kind of a hot mess but still his awesome child.

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b NIV

I hope this was an interesting post! Thanks for reading. 🙃
~Willow