Earlier in my life I attempted to play golf. “Attempted” is the kindest word I can use for what resulted from most of my efforts. That’s why I especially appreciated when by gentlemen’s agreement each golfer would be given one mulligan for the round. Mulligans are great friends of golfers like I was. Having a mulligan meant that at any point in the round I hit a shot I didn’t like, I could pull another ball out of my bag and hit a replacement shot. Having a mulligan meant I possessed a do-over to use at my discretion.
If only life would give mulligans. If only at the beginning of a new year the ground rule could be established that during the next 365 days each of us had one mulligan to use at our discretion. It could be a second opportunity to get right a word spoken that went awry, a relationship broken due to inattention, a misjudgment on an important decision, a missed opportunity when procrastination got the upper hand, or a moment when uncontrolled anger or a judgmental attitude crushed another’s spirit, hope, and confidence. But life doesn’t give mulligans. No gentlemen’s agreements that in the year to come we each get one do-over.
Two realities, therefore, deserve our attention as we start 2022. First, It means we must make every shot count since every shot counts. We have to live with the results of every “shot” we take. Robert Louis Stevenson was correct when he said, “Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.”1 Therefore, we would be wise to weigh carefully each word spoken and each action taken before we speak or act. The reward? More good fruit…fewer fences to mend.
Second, our character, good or bad, will weigh heavily on the actions we take and thus the results we get. Thus we need to make development of a godly character a focal point in our lives to reduce the number of mulligans we wish we had. One of my favorite writers, John Stonestreet, writes a daily blog called Breakpoint for the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. In an early January 2021 blog he made an astute observation, “Character is destiny.”2 As the mental and moral qualities distinctive to us individually3, our character strongly influences the actions we take and thus the people we become. In his best-selling book about habits, James Clear reinforces that point when he says, “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”4 To that I would add, “or it is a declaration of who you already are.”
Take integrity for example. If integrity is a character trait a person either desires to have or claims to already have, then he or she will act as people of integrity act: honest in all aspects of life, true to the person they claim to be – especially when no one is looking, and faithful to fulfill all responsibilities and pledges to which they have committed. Their desired, or realized, character trait of integrity will guide their decisions and their actions. For example, I read recently of a man named Howard Kirby, who in December 2019 bought a couch from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Several weeks later he found the matching ottoman to be very uncomfortable. His daughter-in-law unzipped the ottoman cover and found $43,170 inside. Even though an attorney told him that the money was legally his, he tracked down the donor through the ReSale store and returned the money to the donor. In a later interview Kirby revealed his was not an impulsive decision but a scenario he’d contemplated before. He said, “I always thought about what I would do if that ever happened, and now I know, and it feels good.”5 His character was his destiny at that moment.
While true that we will receive no mulligans to rectify negative situations in 2022, there is something available for each person that is ultimately much better than any mulligan. It’s salvation through Jesus Christ which comes with three life-changing impacts that can reduce the need for mulligans in a person’s life– the new life that comes through forgiveness of our sins by means of Christ’s death on the cross, the eternal life in heaven He provides through His resurrection from the dead, and the abundant life He makes available to Christians through the Holy Spirit. That’s the biblical message of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.”(NASB) Faith in Christ and the new life it brings produces a total makeover, not just a one-time do-over.
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