First Impressions...

So, I have been pondering the idea of first impressions for awhile because of a conversation I had with a friend after an intense Bible study that revealed much about someone I don't know very well. Everybody has heard the saying "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" and I get that in some situations good first impressions are extremely important...BUT...if your first impression is a good one, don't you hope that that impression is also how people who know you well would describe you?
I will admit that I don't generally make good first impressions. I am shy and reserved. It is not my nature to be the first to say hello or start small talk with people I don't know well. If you have seen me doing it...I was probably uncomfortable. God has a sense of humor and had me marry a man whose life was going to be on display...so I am continually pushed to step outside of my comfort zone. So, maybe, if you know me well...the first impression is not the one you have now. But shy is not necessarily a bad thing.
So, after this Bible study (on marriage) I was surprised to learn some things about someone, and I was talking to a friend who was less surprised because she has spent more time with him. I thought he was a nice man, but people who know him better would disagree. That is too bad.
The more I think about it the more I hope that that isn't true of me. Would my husband or closest friends say the same thing about me as people who still just have those first few good impressions? I know we all have sin that the average acquaintance doesn't know about but does that sin define you to the people you know well. Does it define me? Or am I someone constantly trying to be like Christ...struggling with sin but moving forward in my walk as opposed to standing still or falling back? I don't want sin to define me. I want Christ to define me.