The Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen recently shared an inspiring testimony of God's faithfulness throughout his life and NHL career.
During an interview with the CBN’s 700 Club, Larsen shared how his life changed after surrendering his life to Jesus Christ over a decade ago.
"May 22nd, 2011, I gave myself to the Lord! It changes your life, and for 30-plus years in my life, I had zero faith, and I didn't know who that God was and what that looked like," he explained. "So, you build your whole life of this, almost a facade of who you are or what you want to represent. And I'm not that man, you know. I don't want to be that man anymore. So, change is required. To change, you have to change."
While Larson, a former hockey player and assistant coach, acknowledged that he is "ultra-competitive" and wants to win every game, he practices humility by returning to John 3:30, which says, "He (Christ) must become greater; I must become less."
"I'll get out of His way and see where He wants to take it," he added.
Larson added that cultivating an attitude of humility is essential on his team, CBN News reports.
"Humility, again, is a word that keeps coming back. Humility means it's not about you. And in this world now, in this culture now, it's really hard to take the focus off yourself. You have the social media, and it's instant kind of feedback all the time," he said. "I share this with my players a lot; it's, 'Whose opinion matters?' You got to be really careful about that! Who's feeding you? And there's a lot getting thrown at them. Individual results, I need them because guys bring certain skill sets, but it's always about the team!"
Larson also called Christ a "competitor" and "the ultimate warrior" for His saving work on the cross.
"When I understand what Jesus gave up, what He went through, there's nobody tougher than Jesus. At any time, He could have brought in the cavalry and made it go away. But He didn't. It is incredible. When you think about the purpose that Jesus came and did it for. I mean, when you see that kind of love and grace, that grabs your attention!"
Prior to knowing Christ, Larson revealed that he had survived two battles with cancer in the span of three years.
"I had an athlete's mentality at that point when I found out I was stage 2, almost stage 3 melanoma, you know, we were very fortunate," he recalled. "And then a year and a half later, I had testicular cancer going into the playoffs, and it was on my daughter's first birthday, having surgery and went through radiation. We caught it early. It wasn't that I was thinking about dying; it was 'why am I here' and to understand, it's not about you!"
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Kirk Irwin/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
