HEALING BALM - FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE LASTING IMPRESSIONS 6-17-26

YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

The Lord said, For the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am hurt. I am mourning. Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no bomb and gilead? Is there no physician there? One thing is there no recovery for the help of the daughter of my people. This thing is in the bummer. I want to talk to you about first impressions, which are lasting impressions. That famous phrase, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, highlights just how quickly and permanently opinions are formed. I want to step off the beaten path with that old saying, the words of wisdom, old saying, with a common problem some of you may never have related to a first impression. Most of you who know me can attest to the fact that I frequently think outside the box. So, as I first said, first impressions are lasting impressions. For example, they're similar to the power supply cord that comes with a new cell phone, the charger. We just had this situation happen this past week, and I imagine some of you are going to understand what I'm talking about, but for the ones who don't, be prepared. When you plug it in the first time, it sets the contact or the bond between the phone, the charging receptacle, and the power supply cord, the cord that comes with the phone. Not just every connection is a good connection. Have you ever tried to use someone else's phone charger and it just didn't work? Didn't work right. It either won't keep a good tight contact or it trickles so slow that the charge level can be depleted as it's trying to charge. I've had mine just sit there just dead as a doorknob because something was running. I certainly have, and no matter how many times I unplug it, replug it, wiggle it, or snatch the cord out of my phone in frustration, it's still using more power than that trickle can supply. You have to plug it in the supply cord that came with that phone, or so I've discovered. It can even result in having to have the receptacle that you plug into on the bottom of your phone replaced because the cord didn't fit that first impression that gives you that good connection. Now you'd think, well, it shouldn't be that soft. You know, it's made out of some kind of metal or alloy or something, so it should just wiggle right in there. Well, it just don't. It don't make a good connection. I said all that to say this. When we meet somebody or visit a place that we've never been, our mind seems to carve out its own perception or an impression in our mind. There is a 7 Eleven rule, want you to remember this. Studies indicate that within the first seven to eleven seconds of meeting someone, the other person makes up to eleven rapid decisions about your character, your trustworthiness, and your social standing. In other words, they size you up, just like you size them up. It happens more frequent than you realize. In the first visit to a new church, for instance, or a charity event, because being Christians, we're not gonna leave Christians out. Have you ever been to a church, you just walked in the door, size it up and turn around and left? I have. Have you ever formed a first opinion of the preacher by whatever it was or the message that he was given right that particular minute? I have. Maybe that first sermon or message that you hear preach will leave a lasting impression, good or bad, as to whether you ever grace the pews with your presence again. That's just really normal, I think. The way the congregation seems to size you up when you walk through the doors can cause your guard to raise up, to defend against the scrutiny of prying eyes forming a first impression of you. Look, that works both ways. They looking at you, you're looking at them. Really you're not there for that purpose, but that's what happens a lot of times. But that's enough of that. I warned you, we may wander off the beaten path because I know me. And I'm apt to go there. When I'm talking to you, I'm reliving moments that support the subject that I'm talking about, good or bad. And some things that just pop up, pop out. I try to keep control of it, uh, and he has to correct a few things every now and then, but that's just me. Now, if you'll give me just a few more minutes of your valuable time, and I know your time's valuable because mine is, I'll try hard not to waste it. The term, our first impression is our lasting impression. The initial judgment someone makes about you heavily dictates how they will perceive you long term. Whether they're gonna like you or not, what they're gonna think about you, that first look that dictates how they're gonna perceive you long term. We can look at things the wrong way, and sure enough, it becomes the way we see it. Why? That's the way we saw it the first time we saw it. That's the way we see it, that's the way we believe it. Remember, we can't unsee something, so we gotta go to plan B. If we can't unsee it, we gotta find a different angle, we gotta still gotta do something about it. And if we've judged someone in error, we have some renewing of our minds to deal with to set our perception straight and reform our opinion. That's not as easy, maybe as you think. You can't just say, Well, you know, I didn't really didn't like her the first time I heard her or looked at her. But I I like her all right now. Maybe I've just gone gotten used to it, but something you gotta do, you gotta work on it to reform that opinion. Maybe give 'em another chance. Maybe you were distracted when you first met 'em and you really didn't give 'em any attention. You gave them a glance, and that glance was enough for you to make a snap judgment, if you will. It's not a sin to misjudge someone by first impression of them. There's not a that's not a a sin. It's a sin to judge someone that you know nothing about. You uh you don't have the right to do that. Hebrews 13 and 2 encourages believers to practice hospitality towards strangers, reminding them that thereby some have entertained angels unaware. You didn't know they were angels, you didn't know they were a messenger that God sent you away, and you had a first impression, a first opinion, and uh you blew it. That type jump in the gun judgment based on our perception can get us in some real trouble. Things or people are not always what they appear to be, or may not be what they appear to be. You can get the wrong impression both ways. We can make a big mistake by jumping to conclusions based on what we perceived, that snap judgment. That's different than discernment. That's a gift. Discernment's a gift. And it's also a subject for another time. Can you recover from a bad first impression? Maybe you don't think you can. Because like I said earlier, when you see it and that's what you believe it is, then that becomes your belief. That's just the way you see it. But you can recover from that first impression. Remember, we all make mistakes and misjudgment at some times in our life just happens. So we're not doomed if we misjudge something. Don't go down with a sinking ship because you're ashamed to say that you were mistaken. Even if it's just to yourself, maybe you gotta forgive yourself and realize it that you were mistaken. That counts. It may need to remain your secret. You don't have to go tell the world, you don't have to tell the person, boy, I thought you was a dog first time I met you. You know, you don't you don't have to just flab everything you know. Some things are okay to keep close to the chest. You may need to keep that secret, let it remain the secret, thank God, to free yourself from justification. You ever justified something by the way you felt, even though you knew you was wrong, you did something else to justify it. Well, that's not usually what was going on at the time. Maybe you pick something out of thin air or a subject from the past and you justified what you're doing right now by something that happened long time ago. I know all y'all out there are human, so it's bound to happen. Opinions are mixed. We're not all the same. We don't all have the same opinions. Some people form a rigid, unchangeable idea of somebody at first glance. That's the way I see it, that's the way I looked at 'em. Now while others believe that a second, first impression is entirely possible. Most mature, emotionally intelligent individuals recognize that people can just be shy or nervous. Or maybe they're just having an off day. That day they meet you, you got it all together. You know, you dress to the nines, you know, you look good, you smell good, you feel good, got the whirl by the tail on a downhill drag. Well, that person may not be in that situation. They may not feel what you're feeling. Maybe it's just an off day and you don't know what's going on in other people's personal lives. So don't be so fast to form an opinion even though it's natural for humans to form first opinions. Beware of the first impression trap. Also, be aware that many things in this life are not what they appear to be, good or bad. A lot of us are gun shy when it comes to trust in anybody, much less trust in our judgment about the credibility, sincerity, intentions, motives, or just face value of what we perceive by just looking in a stranger's face. Is that not amazing? We can go through all those words, all those activities there just at a glance at a stranger and form an opinion based on an impression. Remember, beware lest at any time we can entertain angels unaware. I'm just gonna leave you with a little side note. I was gonna stop there, but it kind of goes along with it. Have you ever taken someone into your confidence and learned all too soon that you misjudge their ability or intention of keeping something confident? This can cause irreparable harm in your life. It can create an enemy with somebody that shouldn't be your enemy, had you not taken them into confidence and told them something in secret, trying to bind them to a secret, you really put 'em in a bad situation because everybody cannot keep a secret. Some people can't keep a secret. They can't wait to tell it to their friend and tell them don't tell. They couldn't keep it secret, but maybe the friend could. It don't work. Personal and confidential, private information shared only with specific people, implying trust is what a secret is. Sensitive information about ourselves or others. Sometimes the secret is not about us. Maybe it's about somebody that we know, somebody that we love or somebody we don't love. But when we tell something that's supposed to be kept close to the chest and in confidence, that's really a a betrayal. It's so damaging and embarrassing to have something that you've shared in confidence, never considering their ability to keep their lips sealed along with their opinion of you unchanged. When you tell somebody a secret or something in confidence, you do realize that their perception of you is changing, right? Because they saw you one way. But after you finish revealing a secret or something about your life or your past, all of a sudden you have changed their opinion of you. That could be why, and it makes sense to me, that strangers are out to tell strangers things about their lives, because they'll never see them again for one thing. So the matter is safer in the ears of a stranger. Don't that make sense? I've always been one that total strangers had no problem telling me their life history. We've always talked about it, how it seems like somebody will just walk up to you in a supermarket or on the side of the road or whatever and just start telling you their life. They gotta unload something, whether it's and we have heard some guilt and it is an it is sealed. It is not gonna be put out there. But when you meet a stranger and they tell you something very sensitive about their life, if they confess something to you, they gotta talk to somebody. Maybe they learned the hard way a long time ago. Don't tell your best friend, don't go tell your closest confidant, because maybe they don't mean to, but they just can't keep their mouth shut. And it's gonna do damage that cannot be changed. It's gonna change the way people look at you, the way people feel about you. So some things are definitely left between you and the Lord and left better off. I hope you got something out of this today. I got something out of it as I was preparing it. Realizing that first impressions are less than impressions. Y'all be blessed.