“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him”  ~Proverbs 18:17 ESV

I recently got back from a trip to Houston to visit an aunt and uncle that I have not spent much time with in the past. There was, and apparently still is, a rift between them and one of my parents (the 3 of them are siblings). As a result, I didn’t see this aunt or uncle much growing up. Once, maybe twice, but that’s it. One thing I learned from this trip is that you can’t make an informed judgement about people based solely on the first perception you receive.

Growing up I’d only heard of this aunt and uncle through the lens of how my parent saw them. During the trip to Houston I realized that he perception I’d been given wasn’t entirely accurate. I had so much fun spending time with them! They were enjoyable to be around and were genuinely nice, kind people. I’m thankful that in this case I didn’t default to letting someone else’s perception of them become my own. If I did, I would have missed out on the opportunity to connect and build relationships with 2 kind-hearted members of my own family.

Is there an area in our own life where you are blindly accepting the first perception you hear? If so, I urge you to test that perception. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that the initial perception you’d been given isn’t 100% accurate.