Former NFL quarterback Christian Ponder said he used to blame God for poor performances on Sunday.
Now, he said, he recognizes that “that’s not how that relationship works at all.”
Ponder was a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings, but he never lived up to expectations. He was out of the NFL after six seasons, none of which were impressive.
“With my faith going into the NFL, honestly I would think, hey, if I pray, if I get into the Bible, then I’m gonna play well on Sunday. Like, I was using God for myself,” Ponder said during a recent speech at Liberty University. “And what I realized was, my faith was so up and down with how I played, because when I played well I was like, ‘Hey, God’s awesome.’ When I didn’t play well, it was almost like I blamed him for not playing well, and obviously that’s not how that relationship works at all.”
“You don’t want your circumstances of your life determine your circumstances of your faith, and that’s something I learned,” he said.
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