Even well-known celebrities and athletes suffer from moments of self-doubt, and NBA star Dwight Howard is no exception. The Christian basketball player, formerly with the Houston Rockets who will now play for the Atlanta Hawks in the upcoming season, says there have been several upheavals in his basketball career where he felt like he was no good.
On his Instagram account (@dwighthoward), Howard posted a video of himself playing basketball and making continuous successful shots.
"One thing I will tell all [of] you. Don't allow negativity to creep into your ear gates. It did affect me with my confidence. So I'm telling you – allow only positive thoughts and positive people in your circle. Yeah, a lot of people [are] gonna hate on [this] post. But for the ones who wanna be successful in life: Believe in [yourself]. Trust the process. Trust God. And stay locked in."
Howard adds there will be a lot of critics saying, "You can't do this. You can't do that." Howard says those facing criticism should listen to the Word of God, not their critics. He quotes Philippians 4:13: "You can do all thing through Christ."
Howard says God placed him in the NBA for a reason: to spread the gospel.
"My mission was to preach God's Word, you know, in the NBA, use the NBA as a platform for God and when I'm on the floor, let people see the God in me," Howard tells CBN News.
It was difficult to maintain focused on his mission for God, however, because the limelight offers a lot of temptations. "There [were] times where it was very overwhelming. Where it's like man, this is so much," he admits. "Everything is at my disposal, you know, all I got to do is just go reach and it's mine."
And when he did make a mistake, the public crucified him for it. Howard says he was fortunate to know the gospel. Since God is a forgiving God, he learned to forgive himself as well.
"You know, the minute I messed up, the minute I sinned, everybody took a shot at me. 'Hey, you're supposed to be a Christian,' but God died on — Jesus died on a cross for our sins, you know," he says. "So if he's willing to forgive us, why can't we forgive each other?"
