Denzel Washington recently attended a team meeting for the University of Colorado Boulder football team where he spoke about his faith. “In all that I say, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in God’s sight,” Washington began. He stated that his faith had undergone a number of highs and lows. He shared that at one point he had both “hated” and “rejected” God. “I’ve had no patience with God, and God has had nothing but patience with me. That’s why they call it grace,” he said. The team is coached by Deion Sanders, who has also been very open about his faith throughout his career.

Washington called on the players to focus on three words: platform, purpose, and potential. He noted that all had different platforms, with some of the players headed for stardom while others would not. He then called on them to focus on more than football. “We all have a purpose in our life, and I’m here to tell you, God did not put you here to play football. He gave you that gift, but that’s not your purpose in life because one knee, one shoulder, one ankle, one Achilles, one concussion can end that,” he said. He also told them they all had “that God-given potential to be great.”

Despite being a two-time Academy Award winner, Washington noted that his calling was greater than acting. “I never wanted to be an actor. I never thought about acting. I didn’t know any actors, but I found out very quickly that that was my God-given ability, and I found out over this 40-50-year career that it was my God-given purpose. God did not put me on this planet to act; God put me on this planet to preach,” he said. Washington was recently baptized at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in Harlem and presented with a minister license. “In one week I turn 70. It took a while but I’m here. If [God] can do this for me, there’s nothing He can’t do for you. The sky literally is the limit,” he said during the baptism.

During an interview with Esquire, Washington spoke about how he has evolved into having a true faith. “Things I said about God when I was a little boy, just reciting them in church along with everybody else, I know now,” he said. “God is real. God is love. God is the only way. God is the true way. God blesses. It’s my job to lift God up, to give Him praise, to make sure that anyone and everyone I speak to the rest of my life understands that He is responsible for me.” During his talk with the players, Washington shared how God had kept him out of prison, unlike three of his friends. “Only by the grace of God I didn’t go. I did what they did. I shot dope when I was 13 years old. I sold dope, sold reefer, sold heroin, sold cocaine. I was shooting dope at 13 years old, but it wasn’t God’s plan for me,” he said. “”I was filled with the Holy Spirit in the 80s, and I still wanted to go party, I still wanted to chase women and do all of those kinds of things. I don’t do any of those things now.”