Professional golfer Blayne Barber had finally qualified for the PGA Tour. It was a dream come true! However, a week after playing in the tournament that qualified him, he couldn’t get the leaf out of his mind. Yes, a leaf. In the second round of the tournament, he had accidently brushed a leaf in the bunker on the 13th hole, so he marked his scorecard with a one-shot penalty for the infraction. Later that night, he learned it was a two-shot penalty. He played the final two rounds, but a week later, he didn’t have peace signing an incorrect scorecard, so he did the right thing. He disqualified himself, which cost him a spot on the PGA Tour. Blayne lived out the principle, “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
When we have to go back and correct something, it is usually hard and involves sacrifice. This is a principle I have to remind myself often, because I am so forward focused. Messing with the past is difficult and complicated. I think to myself, “Why do I need to dig up the past and try to fix things?” Because God loves it when we go back, correct it and make it right. It took integrity and courage for Blayne to go back and disqualify himself, but he will always know that he did the right thing. God was pleased with what Blayne did. Hard but right. Painful but powerful.
In the Bible, we read about Samson starting out well in life, but he got into a heap of trouble by making some really bad decisions. However, even Samson realized that it wasn’t too late to make things right. At the end of his life, he called upon the Lord and did the right thing.
There might be teammates, coaches, family members or friends who are counting on us to live out this principle – to go back and make things right. Whether it is one week, four years or a lifetime, we need to always do the right thing, no matter what the cost. God wants to restore, reconcile and redeem relationships that have been damaged. Remember, it’s never too late to do the right thing.
