The manager of a minor league baseball team was tired of watching his center fielder play poorly in practice, according to a story by Don McCullough in Discipleship Journal. So he grabbed a glove and headed for the outfield to show the player how it should be done.

The first ball batted toward him took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. Next came a high fly ball that he lost in the sun—only to find when it smacked him on his forehead. Later a hard line drive missed his glove and hit him in the face. That was enough. Furious, the manager grabbed the center fielder by the uniform and shouted, “You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up, even I can’t do a thing with it!”

That may be one of the worst excuses ever given for failing. But then we humans have had a lot of practice with alibis. It began with Adam and Eve. When God confronted them about eating the forbidden fruit, Adam blamed God for giving him Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent for giving her bad advice.

Adam and Eve found out that excuses don’t hide guilt. When we sin—or even make an innocent mistake—how much better to face up to our failures before both God and man.

Don’t waste your time making excuses. They always fall apart.