My name is Daniele and I’m 30 years old. I was born and raised in a Catholic family not particularly practicing. My life has always been characterized by a strong passion for football that at the age of 13 led me to move to another city to follow my dream: to become a professional footballer.
In adolescence I discovered and deepened another passion, the disco, where I also worked for several years as a vocalist. I lived an enviable life between professional football fields, discos and friends.
But I felt like a burden on the heart that often tormented me and did not allow me to fully enjoy my life! Today I know that my way of life was not exemplary, but at the time I did not realize it because, after all, I lived the “normal” life of so many other boys between evenings, alcohol and women! At the age of 18 I went home to play with the team from my city and it was there that Jesus changed my life. That weight on my heart did not abandon me, that sense of emptiness troubled me, I felt dead inside. One day a teammate spoke to me about Jesus inviting me to read the Bible. So, partly out of curiosity and partly out of need, I started reading.
The more I read, the more I was “hungry” to know. We often used to gather in that friend’s room before the game to read parts of the Bible.
This teammate was older than me and despite having a remarkable football career behind him, he took care of me and other young boys on the team. After a while, something extraordinary happened. One day, in my bedroom, I prayed to God, I admitted that I was living the wrong way, I confessed my sin and asked him to be forgiven. That day I started a personal relationship with God. I felt lightened and forgiven and I had this certainty: my life would never be the same again!
And indeed it was: finally in the morning I woke up with a new desire for life.
I discovered the real life thanks to Jesus and I want to do what my teammate did for me: allow others to get to know Jesus. I play football, even if in minor leagues, but I am happy because I can talk about Jesus as “athlete of Christ ”(movement to which I belong).
Like me, I hope that you too can know the length, width, height and depth of the love of Jesus, and that his love changes your heart as mine has changed!
Daniele Advantage
