On our good days

By Charles Christian

I had a mentor and professor who, after he made a profound point about growing in faith and walking in maturity, would sum things up by saying something like this: “So, on my good days, I find myself benefitting from this greatly.”

This phrase, “on my good days,” has stuck with me for more than 25 years. I think it’s because it expressed his humility by admitting that there were times when he didn’t quite live up to the standard he tried to set for himself. The older I get, the more I appreciate the phrase because there are times when, like my teacher and mentor, I have missed the mark when it comes to trying to live up to the standards and goals I set.

I have come to believe that making mistakes or falling short doesn’t necessarily make us hypocrites. When we set high standards, take them seriously and try our best to live up to them, falling short simply makes us human. According to the Bible, the human condition is filled with times of “falling short” of what we were created to be (Romans 3:23).

However, the good news of faith is that our “falling short” is not the end of the story. The Bible also says that God can forgive us, restore us and even help us mature in the our faith (see 1 John 1:9). Even then, though, we will have bad days.

On those bad days, we draw heavily upon God’s mercy and that of others who care about us. On our good days, we celebrate God’s grace and try to make a positive impact on those who need to see mercy and grace embodied in our lives.

Ultimately, our prayer is that God would allow us to have more good days than bad ones. And on our “good days,” we can see both the goodness of God and the good parts of the life we have been given.