This was the prayer of a little English girl, so says Philip Yancey in his book, What's So Amazing About Grace? When I read that statement, I chuckled. Isn't it true? I mean, bad people definitely need to become good, but a lot of good people could sure be a lot nicer, too.

According to the Bible, a person can't stay bad and expect to go to heaven. "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God" (II Corinthians 6:9-10). Too many people have the terribly mistaken idea that they can live their lives in rebellion and total disregard of their Creator, and that when they die, He will welcome them into the beauty of His holy and pure presence for eternal life. This is a horrible lie. The prospect for those who believe it is downright horrifying. The Bible says, "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). God's Word is not ambiguous. His command to mankind is to repent of our sins and receive the perfect righteousness of Jesus on our behalf. The Scripture says, "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:22-24). It says here that "all" have sinned. There is not a single human being on this planet who does not need Jesus as His Savior. The Bible says that Jesus is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Without Him, you will not enter heaven. It does not matter how good you may think you are in relation to other people, the Bible says unequivocally, "and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:27). You can receive Jesus as your righteousness right now, even as you're reading this. The Bible says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved..." (Acts 16:31). Do you recognize your sinfulness? Do you know you need Jesus to be your Savior? The Bible says, "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). There is only one way to be made from bad to good, and that is by receiving Jesus as your Savior. He died on the cross to pay for all your sins. Will you place your trust in Him?

Now, there are plenty of people who are Christians (they've placed their trust in Jesus as Savior), and have been made good in God's sight, but they're not very nice. Instead, their proud of their righteousness, the fact that they don't live as badly as people who have not yet trusted Christ Jesus. Instead of loving these people and having compassion on them and trying to help them to Jesus, they don't associate with them. They talk bad about them to their families and, many times, are just plain mean to them. Not only are some Christians unkind and unloving toward those who are not yet Christians, but often, they are mean to each other. Christians should be the happiest people in the world, because we have been saved, and none of us deserved it. How can we look down our noses at fellow human beings who are not yet Christians, or fellow Christians?! We should be the kindest, most patient, and humble people on earth after all that Jesus has done for us. Our pride, selfishness, and lack of love is a total disgrace and completely unlike our Savior. The greatest characteristic of a Christian should be love toward everybody.

Dear God, please make the bad people good, and the good people nice.