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Key Bible Verse: It is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! (1 Peter 3:17). Bonus Reading:1 Peter 3:8-18

When Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey decided to add a black player to his team's roster in 1947, he knew it would be controversial. Rickey warned Jackie Robinson that he'd be called hurtful names and have wild pitches aimed at his head. He tested Robinson by role playing a foul-mouthed bigot. He got in the ballplayer's face and spewed a sampling of what he'd likely hear. Then he took a swing at Robinson, but missed. "You're going to have to put up with a lot of this kind of stuff," he told him.

The tall, athletic black man was clearly wound up by Rickey's no-holds-barred role-playing. "Well, Mr. Rickey, do you want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?" he said.

Then Rickey delivered his memorable line: "Jackie, I want a ballplayer with the guts not to fight back!"

As Rickey had predicted, the epithets, bean balls, and physical taunts did come. Through it all, Robinson's task was to turn the other cheek. He did, opening the door for other black athletes to integrate professional sports. He inspired a generation to confront the ugliness of racism in every part of our society.

—Howard O. Jones in Gospel Trailblazer

My Response: Am I prepared to turn the other cheek for the benefit of others?

Thought to Apply: In one generation we've moved from denying a black man service at a lunch counter to elevating one to the highest military office.

—Colin Powell

Adapted from Gospel Trailblazer (Moody Publishers, 2003) by permission.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Dear God, since You love us all, help us to assure dignity for each person You have created.

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