We may not even be acquainted, but we can tell if a person is kind, industrious, considerate, loyal or lazy and a shady character. Some believe they have a special gift for this immediate knowledge. Intuition, some call it. This is the one huge danger in believing what we hear. The Bible condemns gossip, forming an opinion before we hear the other side of a matter and expressing ourselves without thinking whether or not we are hurting someone (Proverbs 13:16, 14:16).

We cannot escape the times when we do form first impressions, but we can be careful about the stock we put into our opinions. Our opinions are influenced by many things that we have seen and experienced in our lives. Some people are suspicious of men because of experiences they may have had. Some are suspicious of those of another skin color or ethnic background. Some don't like salesmen, and some don't like teachers. There are reasons, but they all impact any first impression we make of people. We cannot stop making first impressions, and that may be necessary, but we can recognize them as potentially faulty and be careful about how highly we value them.