‘It takes only seven seconds for us to judge another person when we first meet them,’ says Linda Blair, clinical psychologist and author of Straight Talking. ‘It’s not a conscious process, so we don’t even realise we’re doing it.” Another series of experiments by Princeton psychologists revealed that it takes only a tenth of a second to 
form an impression of a stranger, just by looking at their face. Recent research published in the journal of neuroscience says that our brains make immediate judgments on people even before their faces are properly perceived. BUT, in Christ we are a new creation. We are not bound by the principles of the world because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. Jesus says, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets,” Matthew 7:12, NASB. Therefore, it is very important that we make every effort to “not judge a book by it’s cover.” The next time we have a negative impression of someone let’s take that judgment to Jesus and ask Him what He has to say about the way we FEEL. Often we will find that the quick judgments we make about others are based on subconscious triggers of a past negative experience. Our emotions can lie to us. Jesus would want us to take the time to prayerfully discern the truth about anybody we judge as untrustworthy or of no significance. Christians must follow Christ’s law of LOVE.
