Denzel Washington Tells College Grads to 'Put God First in Everything You Do'

Ben Graham | May 11, 2015
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Denzel Washington is sure to turn some Hollywoodian heads after he told a graduating class at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana to “Put God first in everything you do.”

Washington told the students “Everything that you think you see in me, everything that I’ve accomplished, everything you think that I have, and I have a few things… Everything that I have is by the grace of God,” He said as the audience applauded. “Understand that. It’s a gift.”

He told these students a story of how he had once told his mother of how he thought he had accomplished all of these things through his own doing. He quoted his mother stating that he needed to “Stop it right there” and think about all of the people who had been praying for him. Prayers from his family and friends and all the others who had knelt before God on his behalf.



This is not the first time Washington has stood before a group of young people and told them to thank God for all of the good in their lives. In August of 2014, Denzel stood before a gathering of high school kids that were competing in an acting event and gave them advice on setting goals and achieving dreams.

At one point in this address, he tells these kids that he prays that they all put their shoes under their beds at night so that they have to get on their knees in the morning to retrieve them. He told them to thank God for his grace, mercy and understanding.

See his commencement speech below:

 

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