The last few weeks have shown us some of the really good things that men and women are capable of, and, sadly, also, the bad that is in all of us.

Who will forget those wonderful pictures of a nurse at the bedside of a dying patient, holding an iPad so they could see their nearest and dearest one last time?

NHS Volunteer responders had a problem coping and 750,000+ people were willing to help a vulnerable person with shopping, a prescription or a chat. Maybe you too, in your way, have done one or more of those things for family or neighbours.

But then the other side of the coin: a nurse who works with Covid-19 patients wakes up to find her car tyres slashed, a bus drivers is spat at, in one of our Ilford supermarkets I’ve heard people becoming aggressive to attendants because they were limited to three items.

So how come both the good and the bad? We are all capable of doing some good things because we’re created in the image of God. But all of us say and do bad things because there is something bad in our hearts.

We like to compare ourselves with others, and think that we are (at least quite) good. But can you say you’ve never smiled and spoken politely while other thoughts lurk in your mind? Comparing ourselves with others leads to pride and arrogance!

Thank God then that He is a forgiving God. Thank God then that He offers us forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose again.

We live in a world of “The good, the bad, and the… forgiven”. Thank God for that.