Are All Bad People Bad?

As I travel through life, I constantly discover more and more that perceived bad people are not always bad and certainly perceived good people are not always good. Such is the time in our ministry when the benefit of someone who is considered bad, paid it forward and became good.

I met Dusty while incarcerated and notice from the beginning he had a good heart. He always cared for his fellow inmate and had genuine concern when they were hurting. He was serving a seven and a half year sentence and I don’t remember a day he didn't have a smile on his face. He knew the Lord!

Upon his release, Dusty found it difficult getting back into society as money was tight and just starting over again presented its share of problems. A friend of mine told me of his release and his need for resources just to put gas in his car to get to work. I contacted Dusty and told him of our ministry asking if we could send him some funds to help through this difficult time.

Being the humble person I knew, he was reluctant to accept the money and asked if it could just be a loan he could pay back. I explained that he didn’t need to pay it back and it was a gift from our ministry used to help inmates both in and out of prison. After a few moments of convincing, Dusty agreed to have a check mailed to sister's home so he could get gas for his car.

He was always a hard worker while incarcerated and I knew he'd be a hard worker at any job he was employed at. It wasn't long before I received a call from Dusty wanting our address so he could pay back the funds he had received. I explained that he didn't have to, but of course he wouldn’t take no for an answer.  Always the soul with a big heart, it didn’t surprise me when Dusty sent back double what he had received. God had laid on his heart to help another inmate. Because of his gift, our ministry was able to provide funds for four additional inmates. God continues to be so good all the time.

Almost all prison inmates are considered bad people simply because of the crime they committed. But if we were all incarcerated because of our mistakes, wouldn’t everyone have to serve time? What is important in this story is not the crime committed, but the heart changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his relationship with the Lord, Dusty paid it forward in order to help his fellow inmates. 

Are all perceived bad people bad ?... I don't think so.