The MulliganSample

The Ultimate Mulligan

As a golfer, you know all about mulligans. Playing partners have probably offered them to you many times. You’ve probably offered them to your partners as well. Or maybe you’re like Paul McAllister, who played strictly by the rules and was too proud to receive “charity” for a bad shot. In either case, you learned early on about this expression of grace and, whether you received it or not, how often it is needed.

God and mulligans go together. He came up with the idea of second chances and third and hundredth chances too. In fact, he offers us the Ultimate Mulligan—a one-time gift that we could never earn on our own that covers the entire round of our lives. He offers plenty of daily mulligans too to cover all the bad shots we will ever make. These mulligans can’t be earned; that’s the whole point of a mulligan in the first place. It has to be offered by a playing partner and received as a gift. But once we receive the Ultimate Mulligan from God, our entire game changes.

The Ultimate Mulligan is not a “what” but a “who.” Jesus earned the perfect scorecard and makes up for all the “bad shots” we will ever make in life. He compensates for our imperfections and provides for all we lack. He forgives us of our sins, helps us learn from our mistakes, and walks with us as we play his course. He is patient; he understands that our shots sometimes veer off into the woods or find the bottom of a lake. But he is the ultimate partner too. We can trust that he will always guide us back into the fairways and onto the open greens of life.

One of the clearest indicators of how you see yourself is your self-talk—especially when something goes wrong. What kinds of things do you say to yourself when you hit a bad golf shot? What do you think of yourself when you say the wrong thing in a conversation or offend someone you love? What goes through your mind when you blow it in a relationship or a business decision? Think of some specific examples when your self-talk came to the surface. What do these thoughts reveal about your self-image?

1. What is your attitude toward mulligans in golf? Do you easily accept and offer them? What about in life? How easily do you accept mulligans—offers of forgiveness—from God and other people?
2. The Ultimate Mulligan can only be received by faith. What words and actions might demonstrate faith in this amazing gift? How might your life change as the reality of this gift sinks deeper into your heart?
3. Golfer Mark McCumber said, “Forget the last shot. It takes so long to accept that you can’t always replicate your swing. The only thing you can control is your attitude toward the next shot.”

That’s great advice for golf—we may not be able to reproduce our best swings on demand—but we can control our perspective on each shot. How does this advice parallel the gift we have been given in the Ultimate Mulligan? In what ways does that gift help us put the past behind us and give us a fresh start with each “shot” or each day of our lives?