Offer forgiveness. Only God is perfect.

In 2010 Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga had recorded 26 straight outs. It was an amazing feat in itself and he was just one out away from a perfect game! In over 135 years of Major League Baseball history, which is over 200,000 games, there have only been 23 perfect games. History was about to made. Armando got a ground ball from the next hitter to the first baseman Miguel Cabrera. The ball required Cabrera to move to his right moving away from first base. This made Armando have to run over to first base to receive the throw from Cabrera. The runner was going fast to the base but the throw hit Galarraga’s glove before the runner touched first base. Galarraga started to celebrate. The only problem was the umpire called the runner safe. It was an unbelievable mistake given the history that was going to be made.

After the game the umpire watched the replay and realized his mistake. He went into the locker room and could only say two words, “Lo siento”, which means I’m sorry. Galarraga responded with class and said, “No one is perfect.”

Though in sports there can be glimpses of perfection, no one is able to sustain it for more than a game or two. God however, has pitched a perfect game for an eternity. He was around before the world began and will be around for eternity. In all of that time, He has never made a bad decision. As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30. He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:4.

In sports, statistics are often kept that detail the highlights and lowlights of a game. Negative plays including turnovers, missed shots, strikeouts, errors, and incompletions, all detail the mistakes that players have made. Statistics are even kept now on referees and umpires that can highlight mistakes. In our own lives, we know that we all will have times when we sin and mess up. In sports, mistakes go down in the permanent record, however, in our Christian lives we know that God forgives us our sins and they are completely erased forever. There is a poem by Louisa Fletcher that details the thoughts many might have at one time or another in which a person would want to start over. The beauty is that, in Christ, each day we are made new as forgiven and free children of God.

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The Land of Beginning Again
I wish that there were some wonderful place
In the Land of Beginning Again.
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
and never put on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware,
Like the hunter who finds a lost trail;
And I wish that the one whom our blindness had done
The greatest injustice of all
Could be there at the gates
like an old friend that waits
For the comrade he's gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do
But forgot, and remembered too late,
Little praises unspoken, little promises broken,
And all the thousand and one
Little duties neglected that might have perfected
The day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn't be possible not to be kind
In the Land of Beginning Again,
And the ones we misjudged
And the ones whom we grudged
Their moments of victory here,
Would find in the grasp of our loving hand-clasp
More than penitent lips could explain...
So I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches,
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never put on again.
-Louisa Fletcher-

Reference
Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. ​​