Recently, Atlanta Hawks basketball player AJ Griffin announced that he would be quitting his NBA career to pursue more meaningful efforts in spreading the good news of the Gospel. The 21-year-old has made headlines for giving up the fame and wealth that so many people covet.
In a video Griffin uploaded to YouTube, the professional athlete explained, “I gave up basketball to follow Jesus.” He added, “And I know that in a lot of people’s eyes, that seems like, it seems like a loss in the world’s eyes. But I just want to let you guys know that I’m super excited because I truly get to serve God, you know, with my full Yes, and I feel like letting go of basketball is allowing me to, you know, go into full-time ministry and truly serving the Lord with all my heart — with all my time too, as well. So, I’m just excited to see where that leads me.”
Griffin further emphasized that he is excited to begin his new journey in serving the Lord with all of his time. “Yes, and I feel like letting go of basketball is allowing me to go into full time ministry and truly serving the Lord with all my heart, with all my time too, as well. So I’m just excited to see where that leads me,” he said.
The former basketball player explained how he truly came to give his life to Christ several years ago. “So, like, with that being said, Man, I just want to go through the steps on, like, how, you know, I came to this, you know, realization. I want to let go of basketball and follow God. And this really has to start off with, you know, me giving my life to Christ in 2020 I truly accepted him back then he found me. You know, I know we say we find God, but he finds us,” he recounted.
Griffin recounted how his heart began to change after he gave his life to Christ, which reshaped his life. “But yeah, it was in 2020 I gave my life to Christ, and it was the best decision of my life. It truly was. And I think my values start to change. Heart started to change. I think, before you know, I think basketball is my everything. I think basketball is so called my passion. I thought that was the reason why I was living. But when I came to God, He truly showed me that, you know, we’re all made, you know, to glorify God,” he said.
Griffin concluded his statement encouraging others to live by faith and not sight, trusting that God will lead everyone down the correct path. “I hope this, this video also, too, encourages people to not live in fear. Because I think fear, you know, tries to stop a lot of people from pursuing what they know, what you know, God has told them to do, told them to do. And I just want to be encouragement, you know, to walk by faith,” he added.
He continued, “You know, not by sight. You know God, he’s he’s the one that truly provides. He’s the one who takes away and gives. And so just know that it’s all working out pretty good. You know, don’t worry about the outside noise. You know, focus on your personal relationship with Jesus. And you know, everything, everything else will be added.”
Watch Griffin below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.