Isn’t the exercise of sports and the lessons of sportsmanship a good thing?

Q: Football is under attack today and many people are refusing to support it because the sport has been turned into a political football. Sports in general has been hit hard because of COVID-19, but isn’t the exercise of sports and the lessons of sportsmanship a good thing? – S.F.

A: During the 1929 Rose Bowl a player who recovered a fumble became confused and ran the wrong way. A teammate tackled him just before he would have scored a touchdown against his own team. At halftime the players retreated to the locker room bewildered, wondering what the coach would say. This young man sat by himself, put a towel over his head, and cried.

The coach stunned the team announcing that the same players who had started the first half would start the second. The players left the dressing room except this young man. He would not budge. The coach looked back as he called him again, and saw that his cheeks were wet with tears. The player said, “Coach, I can’t do it. I’ve ruined you. I’ve disgraced the university. I can’t face that crowd in the stadium again.”

Then the coach put his hand on the player’s should and said, “Get up and go back in. The game is only half over.” It was a great lesson for the young man.

This is what God says to us when we fail or want to give up. As long as we live this life, we are in the game. We should not let our own failures – or the failures of others – take us out. God intends for us to persevere (Revelation 2:3).

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

©2020 Billy Graham Literary Trust. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

(c)2020 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.