The Good Thing About Bad Days

Sometimes I have bad days. These bad days, the kind I’m talking about, are always my fault. I’m not that smart and I’m not that wise and I don’t have a lot of self control. Something is wrong with me because I don’t do the right things, I mess things up. I didn’t read about this in a book and no one had to tell me about it. I can explain logically that there’s a problem and I can feel it emotionally and I can see it practically.

Sometimes I have bad days. Because I’m not the kind of person I should be, I’m not the kind of person I want to be. I wish I could be better. This isn’t any different from everyone else. Everyone can be faulted for some of their bad days, everyone messes things up sometimes, everyone wants to be better.

Everyone wants to be a better person than they are. Especially on their bad days.

Sometimes I have bad days. Because I sin. The universe has physical laws, we call this science. It also has metaphysical laws, we call this morality. Unlike the physical laws, the metaphysical laws can be broken, this is called sin. And similar to breaking the laws of a country, when a moral law is broken, there’s a punishment for that.

Sometimes I have bad days. Because I’m not the kind of person I should be and I sin and I earn punishment.

But the good thing about bad days is Jesus. When I have a bad day, there are two things I need. First I need, I want, to be a different person. A better one. Second, I need to be forgiven of the punishment that I earn. Jesus does both. In the Bible, the 1st chapter of 1st John says:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ~ 1st John 1:8-9 ESV

The “he” here is God. God is not vindictive or unconcerned, He has an offer of forgiveness. But, more than that, He has an offer to change the kind of person I am, He offers to make me a better person. That’s what “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” means. Neither of these is automatic, they happen through confession. And the cleansing from unrighteousness doesn’t happen all at once, but it does happen.

Sometimes I have bad days. But God, through Jesus, cares and forgives and changes me. That’s the good thing about bad days.