At the Frisco RoughRiders game last night, their starter pitched a really good game. He gave up one run on three hits through seven innings. Going into the 8th, the RoughRiders were up 2-1. A set-up man came into pitch the 8th. He gave up no runs and allowed only one hit. Then in the 9th the RoughRiders brought in their closer who threw 95 mph heat! He gave up 5 earned runs on 4 hits. Ouch. The lesson is…one bad outing can mess up 8 innings worth of greatness.
The same rings true for us in life. All it takes in one slip of the tongue, one outburst of fury, or maybe even keeping your mouth closed when something should be said to ruin a situation. In the end, fixing things is 10 times harder and more arduous than messing them up was. While contextually James seems to be addressing an attitude we should have toward the word, maybe, “Know this my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20) can speak to us in a broader sense about why its important to be on guard at all times?
