The Next At-Bat

On June 17, 2015, a gunman walked into Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and took nine lives during a Wednesday evening Bible study. Among the dead was Sharonda Coleman-Singleton — a pastor, a track coach, and the mother of Charleston Southern University baseball player Chris Singleton.

The next morning, eighteen-year-old Chris stood before cameras and said something that stunned a grieving nation: "Love is stronger than hate."

In the weeks that followed, Chris didn't quit baseball. He stepped back into the batter's box. He kept swinging. But he also kept forgiving — publicly, repeatedly, at a cost most of us cannot fathom. Two years later, the Chicago Cubs drafted him. He played professional baseball carrying both his mother's memory and the weight of a grace he chose every single day.

Forgiveness in scripture is never described as a feeling. It is described as an action. Jesus on the cross didn't feel warmth toward the soldiers dividing His garments. He chose to speak: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

Chris Singleton stepped up to the plate and swung. That is what forgiveness looks like — not the absence of pain, but the decision to step back into life and love anyway.

What at-bat is the Lord calling you to take today?