[NTDNewsBeijingtimeOctober192024]Former NBA star <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/college-basketball-schedule-ranked-games-today-january-12/” title=”College Basketball Schedule: Ranked Games Today, January 12″>AJ Griffin is only 21 years old, but this young man knows what giving up means.
Following God‘s call, the basketball star recently decided to leave the NBA and pursue a full-time Christian career.
“This decision may seem crazy or abnormal to the world, but I’m not here to please humans, I just want to please God,” he said in a video on YouTube.
In 2020, Griffin dedicated his life to Jesus and said it was the “best decision” he had ever made. Griffin said that as his relationship with God developed, his values and heart began to change. He once considered basketball his “everything”, but now he has more important things to put first in his life.
“We said we found God, but he found us,” Griffin said in the video.
“… I think basketball is my passion. I thought that’s why I was alive, but when I came to God, He really showed me that we are all created to glorify God and we are all made for Purpose is a God-given purpose—and we must run toward it.”
Despite the change in the way he viewed the sport, Griffin continued to play basketball. The five-star high school recruit went on to play for Duke University in 2021 after graduating from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York.
Griffin played one season at Duke, leading his team to the Final Four, and then spent two seasons in the NBA with the Hawks. According to Sports Spectrum, he spent his final season with the Houston Rockets.
“God’s grace and mercy allow me to spread the good news of the gospel wherever I go,” Griffin said.
Sharing his faith came easily to Griffin during those years, and it’s something he still enjoys doing today. He often talks about his faith journey on social media and offers advice to other believers.
“I feel like I have nothing to regret. I was really lucky to have that journey,” Griffin said of his basketball career, adding that a person can have all the wealth in the world, but what really matters It is one’s relationship with God.
In September, Griffin made a big decision because he sensed his love for God’s word might lead him in a different direction than basketball. Based on his faith, Griffin chose to leave the NBA and enter Christian work.
With this decision, the young basketball star will leave behind all the fame and fortune he expected as a professional star basketball player. But Griffin believes his faith is worth dying for, saying God is “the only one who can satisfy you.”
“He’s the only guy who can give you goals. I feel like the Lord is calling me to put down basketball and really just serve Him more,” he said in a video explaining his choice.
Many people ask, “Why can’t you follow God and play basketball?”
Griffin said in the video that it was possible — and, in fact, he did do it for a short time during his years at Duke and the NBA — but eventually, he felt God telling him to put down the basketball. , focus instead on God.
Griffin said in the video that working for the NBA was just one season of his life and the season passed. Now, he is ready for the new season.
“I’m doing great and I’m happy to continue following God,” he said.
original”Choosing to ‘Follow God’ Over Basketball: NBA Star AJ Griffin Shares Why He Retired at 21“Published on the English Epoch Times website.
(Reprinted from The Epoch Times/Editor: Ye Ping)
URL of this article: https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2024/10/19/a103922712.html
