Because He First Loved Us, We Can Face Almost Anything: Akbar Gbajabiamila and Kristian Stanfill

There’s an element to having a relationship with God where you feel compelled to tell others about His love. Because when we’re in a loving relationship, we thrive. It brings us joy, and it gives us stamina to face whatever’s in front of us. Our guests this week had circumstances in their lives that could have made their lives go in directions that might not have been optimal. Having God’s love as a foundation for how they saw themselves in the world was key to giving them that “push” they needed to believe they were made for something more. 

Akbar Gbajabiamila is a former NFL player turned television host who almost didn’t take the leap of faith that led him to the career he has today, but it was advice from his father to finish what he started and to be an ambassador for God that motivated him to keep going. Kristian Stanfill is a worship leader of the Passion movement who vulnerably sought sobriety in order to overcome the tough emotions that he was burying and hiding from others. 

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: The Power of Love

Upcoming interview: Aaron Tippin

Akbar Gbajabiamila

American Ninja Warrior 

CBS The Talk

Los Angeles Lakers

Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

San Diego State

Oprah Winfrey

NFL Network

Fight to Survive

Everyone Can Be a Ninja

Kristian Stanfill

Passion movement 

Louie Giglio

www.kristianstanfill.com

Make It Out Alive

Passion’s new album I’ve Witnessed It

Interview Quotes:

“I felt like an outcast. I felt like an outsider. But I had to learn how to persevere. I remember something that my father told me, and I never forgot this: ‘Make them say your name.’ Whenever they say your name, it should be in a favorable light. You're doing things that people are going to remember you by.” - Akbar Gbajabiamila

“What's the story here? The story is sometimes you have no idea. You have your mind set on something else, and sometimes others see something special in you that you can't see in yourself.” - Akbar Gbajabiamila

“The better you understand the playbook, the more comfortable you are on the football field. And this is how God was starting to work in my life. As I started to become taught, I started seeing the Lord ordering my step in a certain way. And that right there was the beginning of my journey as a Christian.” - Akbar Gbajabiamila 

“The point of that story is that sometimes you do have to create your own opportunities. Sometimes you have to step in faith, and sometimes it looks scary. My father used to say, ‘You're an ambassador for the family, and you're an ambassador for God.’ And I never, ever, ever forgot that.” - Akbar Gbajabiamila

“I thought, Man, if I could be a part of helping people see Jesus and encounter the presence of God with my life, that would be pretty cool.” - Kristian Stanfill

“Alcohol became something that I used to numb these feelings of inadequacy or failure or I'm not good enough or I'm not measuring up. And I think we all feel similar emotions and similar things, and we all live in the same world and feel a lot of the same pressure. I just wasn't dealing with it in a healthy way.” - Kristian Stanfill

“The first step that everybody took was toward me and not away from me.” - Kristian Stanfill

“God started to help me understand things about who He is and His love for me. I started to understand my community's love for me, and it was just transformative.” - Kristian Stanfill

“I've grown up hearing about grace and God's love. But you have to understand that it's real for yourself and that God's grace flows down into the deep, dark place that you're at and meets you there, but it doesn't leave you there. It changes you. It transforms you.” - Kristian Stanfill

“God uses these things in our life, even these broken things, these struggles that we go through, to refine us and make us more like Himself.” - Kristian Stanfill

“If you want a resurrection, then a dying has to happen. But this death is not the end. It's where your life begins.”- Kristian Stanfill

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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!

Audio Episodes:     https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7 

Bonus Podcasts:     https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw 

Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer:  https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C 

Peace for Everyday Life:     https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj 

Peace in Uncertain Times:     https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u 

What’s Good?     https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj 

Enneagram:     https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY 

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