Former NFL RB Explains ‘Delicate Balance’ Between Faith, Works
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former Chicago Bears and New York Jets running back Matt Forte relied on his faith throughout his 10 seasons in the NFL.
“During his career, Forte amassed nearly 15,000 all-purpose yards and was named to two Pro Bowls with the Bears. He is second on the Chicago Bears’ all-time rushing yards list behind Walter Payton,” Sports Spectrum reported.
In a recent interview with Sports Spectrum, Forte talked about the important balance between our faith and our works.
“It’s a delicate balance. Your faith has to have works. You know, James tells us, ‘Faith without works is dead,’ like a body without breath,” Forte began. “So, it doesn’t hang everything on the works, but we do have to actively show and live out our faith because that is what it is.
“Otherwise, it’s not faith. It’s just you kind of, you believe something, but you’re not actively showing it,” he continued. “That is what becomes contagious and allows other people to see something different about that guy or that girl. And you have to walk it out. You have to walk out your salvation as you continue to grow in Christ. And if not, we’re kind of spinning our wheels in the mud.”
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Forte is living out his faith with his first-ever children’s book called “My Hair Can.” It released on Sept. 3.
“I am so excited and extremely blessed to be able to use the platform God has given me to share this book with you all,” he expressed on his social media. “I hope every child that reads ‘My Hair Can’ or has it read to them looks in the mirror and Loves the unique way in which God has created them.
“My hope is that they would see the value and validation they possess being that they are created in Gods very image and likeness, so that they can be a light to others in a dark world,” he added. “In order to Love others authentically we must first learn to Love ourselves because when we value and respect ourselves we respect and see the value in others.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Forte’s testimony:
“Matt Forte grew up going to church because it was the ‘religious routine’ and he viewed Christianity as an ‘accessory.’ In the NFL, he quickly became an outward success — a Pro Bowl running back, a household name,” Sports Spectrum wrote.
After being invited to a Christian conference, though, his world changed.
“Back in 2012, Josh McCown invited me to this NFL conference that was inviting you into a deeper relationship with Jesus,” Forte began his testimony. “I drug my feet going to the conference, sat there with arms folded for the first session, and about 10 minutes in, I was blown away. Taking notes, Tony Evans was preaching, and it just convicted me that I had not really ever in my life been living the life that God had designed for me to live.”
“We get to another conference in 2014, I just have this heavy burden of hypocrisy weighing over me,” he continued. “Feeling like an outward success ’cause by then I had played six or seven seasons, and I was a household name. You know you start to believe the hype that is on you.”
“So, in that conference, while the worship team was worshipping, singing songs on stage, I just was praying the whole time and asking God to allow me and help me to truly submit my entire life to His will and not my own,” he confessed. “To eliminate all the pride that is wedged up in my heart and allow Jesus’s word to envelop inside of me and create an inward transformation.”
