Greetings brothers and sisters!

This month’s topic is sports related;  I am going to step into the world of baseball where a life changing moment happened last month. I’ll talk about how a great man showed forgiveness and humility when he could have really “pitched” a fit.

On June 2, 2010 the Detroit Tigers faced the Cleveland Indians in a baseball game.  Armando Galarraga was the pitcher for the Tigers, and he consecutively got 26 players out. He was on the verge of joining an elite few who had achieved a “perfect game”. A perfect game entails every batter in a 9 inning game being struck out or gotten out by catching a fly or tagging out. Nobody is walked and nobody gets on base at all. Galarraga was on the 27th batter when the young rookie hit the ball and ran toward first base. The first base player stepped out to get the ball, and Galarraga ran to cover first base. He put his foot on the base and caught the ball. The runner was clearly out by at least a second, but Jim Joyce, the umpire, called the runner safe. There is a big difference between baseball and all other sports. There are no instant replays and the calls cannot get reversed. The umpire’s word is final. As soon as the replay was shown on the big screen, Joyce was visibly shaken as he realized the mistake he had made, and the implications behind the decision. The perfect game was ruined.

Armando Galarraga could have pitched a big fit and shown himself to be an angry man who had virtually been robbed. Instead he smiled and walked back to the mound. He pitched to one more batter, who got out, and the game ended. Jim Joyce came to Armando after the game and admitted his mistake. He was in tears and apologized profusely. Armando exchanged hugs with him and forgave him on the spot. His reply was “Nobody is perfect.” The next day, Jim Joyce was the umpire behind the plate. As it turned out, Armando was the one who was to deliver the starting line-up to the umpire. The fans were in a major uproar and said some vicious things about Joyce; however, Galarraga smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. This was a very visible sign to the world that he had forgiven Jim Joyce.

I know of a large number of people who fall into the category of “nobody’s perfect.” That group includes every person who is alive on this earth. Man is full of sin. The book of Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” It is because of the fact that we all have sin that we are not perfect. It took One to come and die for us so that we would one day be free of the bondages of sin.

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (NKJV)
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Paul wrote about someone who had caused him grief in this passage. He also refers to punishment in verse 6. In this case, punishment means a warning or censure. In the long run, it was a sample of tough love. The results were fantastic because the man, who received the tough love, repented. In verses 7-8 Paul is asking the church to forgive the man and to accept him. He had been corrected, so forgiveness was to naturally follow along. In verse 11, Paul tells us that Satan is always out to cheat a believer out of true forgiveness. He wants to divide and conquer the church, so he will do it in any way he can.

Although I am unsure of Armando Galarraga’s religious background, we can still compare the situation to Paul and the man who caused him grief. The man grieved Paul; he was punished and then forgiven. Jim Joyce surely grieved Galarraga. His punishment was that he had to face the man he had cheated and to endure the harshness of the fans. Armando Galarraga forgave him just as Paul had the church forgive the man who had grieved him.

Jesus is another One who forgives. Whenever we commit sin, all we have to do is ask Him to forgive us and He does. If you go back and ask Him if he remembers the thing you just asked forgiveness, He says no. If you have sin in your life, ask Jesus to cleanse you. If you do not know Him as your Savior, all you have to do is ask Him to come into your heart and believe that He is real and that He loves you. People think it is hard to be saved, but that is one of the easiest things you will ever do and one that is the most fulfilling.

Have a blessed day!
Love in Christ!
~Kim (canam) Fox

By Kimberly Fox

Dr. Kimberly "canam" Brinson is a native of Camden County, Georgia. She teaches 6th grade Language Arts at a middle school in St. Marys. She recently completed her doctorate degree in Instructional Leadership and Curriculum through NOVA Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Kimberly is an avid 3-D archer and enjoys attending 3-D competitions with her compound bow. Kimberly is an NFAA certified archery coach and enjoys teaching archery to potential students of all ages. She is also on the Pro Staff for Shoot Like A Girl, which is a company that helps teach women about the aspects of archery. Kimberly has enjoyed the great sport of archery since 2001. Her greatest archery moment includes finishing 3rd place in Shooter of the Year with the Archery Shooters Association and a few significant placings at national archery tournaments and local events as well as Florida State 3-D Champion in 2008.

As far as hunting, Kimberly is a licensed Master of Hounds with United Kennel Club and is certified to judge raccoon field trials and bench shows. For many years, coon hunting was a well enjoyed sport by her, and she helped work several dogs to championship status in licensed coon hunts and coon hunting for pleasure. Kimberly also enjoyed training and running Foxhounds to chase fox and coyotes. This was a short-lived hobby because it was very time consuming and quite expensive. Throughout her life, Kimberly has deer hunted. The initial experience was running deer with hounds; however, for the past few years, she has participated in still hunting with a rifle to a slight degree. Building food plots and scouting are Kimberly's favorite parts of deer hunting. She has not harvested an animal while still hunting, but she intends to hunt from a treestand this upcoming season instead of in a blind. Hopefully, her luck will change. In theory, she is a rookie still hunter.

In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys reading, playing seek and find computer games and hanging out with her husband, Evan. She also enjoys spending time at her church, Harbor Worship Center in Kingsland, GA and writing weekly devotions for Talk Hunting.

Credentials:
Shoot Like A Girl Pro Staff
BowTech Pro Staff
Carbon Express Pro Staff
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Huddle Coach
Talk Hunting Magazine Staff Writer and Editor
TH Weekly Devotions Writer