It wasn’t until I was older that I learned that when girls got all dressed up for a night out, most of the time, although they stated that they were trying to attract a guy, usually they were looking for the compliments and acceptance of their friends. Generally speaking, guys weren’t going to know if you were wearing Juicy Couture, or the Kmart special, but your friends would. And as much as you wanted a guy’s attention, you wanted your friends’ affirmation as well.
The sad thing about all this is that our clothes don’t give us an indication of what really matters about an individual. It’s why our parents said “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” (And, by the way, as a former publishing manager, I’m here to tell you – everyone forgets that when actually purchasing a book.) Too often I’ve found that I’ve made snap judgments based on my first impressions, only later to discover that those initial indications were misguided and wrong. My first impressions were useless and they should have been discarded just as quickly as they were made.
For the Christian, however, it’s not our attire that people should notice. Colossians 3 says that we are to be clothed “with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (v. 12). These things are should be what covers us; it’s these things that should form others first impressions. Instead of what we wear, people should notice our heart. Instead of being attracted to our attire, people should be attracted to our attitudes. And this attraction should point them to Christ.
It’s easy to spend a significant amount of time picking out just the right outfit, to try and determine how I want others to see me. In the future, I hope I spend more time thinking about how I want them to see Christ. And then, maybe, their first impressions will be worth something.
