When former NFL wide receiver Adam Thielen truly repented, his life changed.
“This isn’t what it looks like to be a Christian, and you know, just had a lot of moments in my life that directed me to say, ‘Okay, like you’re right. Like this is what it looks like, and this is what I need to do to.’” Thielen said on the “Sports Spectrum” podcast.
The wide receiver felt he was living in the darkness and the only thing that could bring him to the light was true repentance.
“You know, I needed to confess, and I needed to get that forgiveness and to get into the light,” the former athlete reflected. “I was living in the darkness for a while, and I couldn’t get out, and I was wondering, like, why can’t I get out? Like, I’m not trying to do these things. Like, I’m not trying to do that, but like, why can’t I get out of this darkness? And, I had to confess. And once I did that, I came to the light, and like, man, is that freeing.”
“Is it hard? Yes, extremely difficult,” Thielen emphasized. “Some of the hardest moments of my entire life, but man, is it freeing and helped me really go in the direction I want to go.”
Throughout his football career, Thielen’s faith grew deeper, thanks, in part, to his Minnesota Vikings teammate C.J. Ham.
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“I grew in my faith throughout my career thanks to great men and leaders in the locker room,” Thielen said.
“Even though C.J. is younger than me, his faith was a lot stronger than mine — and he was really one of my greatest mentors in my faith walk,” he added. “I’m forever grateful for that. … We’ve had some amazing conversations, just life stuff we could talk about and help each other through, or maybe sometimes it’s just listening.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am in my faith walk if it wasn’t for you,” Thielen told Ham.
What helped Thielen the most was understanding his identity in Christ.
“It allowed me to give everything I have, because God gifted me the opportunity — and I could be OK with the results, good or bad,” he said.
Now retired after 13 seasons, Thielen continues to point back to that turning point of confession as the moment everything changed.
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