Trimble a part-time theology student, has said that he prays and quotes from Psalm 84–his favorite Scripture passage–before each game. The following is excerpted from Trimble’s testimony at the Celebration of Hope in Belfast, which can be viewed online at billygraham.org/andrewtrimble.

A big part of my life is rugby, but an even bigger part is following Jesus. I became a Christian when I was about 17; it was at that stage that I decided to give my life to Christ. It has been tough since then, but I’ve never looked back. The best years of my life have been following Jesus.

It is strange to think that a sport where you kick lumps out of each other is a place where you can be a Christian and love your brother and love the guys on the opposite team. I’m so thankful that He’s given me an opportunity to be able to do that.

I love the fact that God has made me good at rugby, because, to be honest, I’m rubbish at everything else.

It’s great to be used for God’s glory. The Scottish Olympic runner Eric Liddell once said, “God has made me fast, and when I run fast, I feel God’s pleasure.” And that is what God has designed me to do as well, to run fast and to catch balls and to score tries. I love doing that for God’s glory.

A lot of people talk to me about rugby–they think it’s all I want to talk about. But really, it’s not that exciting. I was doing a bit of a road trip recently with a couple of friends, and I met a guy who thought all I’d want to talk about was rugby. And I said, “Mate, you are boring me.”

There is nothing more exciting for me than talking about Jesus. Rugby is a 10-year career. What can you do in 10 years? You can achieve all the goals and all the glory and score all the tries and get all the girls and do whatever, but let me tell you this: South Africa just achieved the biggest rugby goal there was. They won the World Cup. And four weeks later they got beat. Winning a game is a temporary goal. It is a glory that is going to perish, and it’s going to spoil, and it’s going to fade.

I’m so much more excited about something that lasts forever. When Jesus saved me, He saved me for eternity. It is called Good News for a reason, because He has died for your sins.

Whether you’re in school, at college, a doctor, a nurse, a superstar on TV–no matter what you do, you’re going to try to achieve goals. And you think you might get there on your own. But you never will.

There is a verse in Psalm 84:10, “Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere” (NIV). So if you think you can be happy by achieving worldly goals, you’re wrong. There is nothing like knowing Jesus. Jesus made us. Our purpose in life is to know Him and to be found in Him and to glorify Him.

That’s something I’ve come to understand more and more. It’s really what life is all about. Second Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (NIV).