
Dr. Josh Axe welcomes Tim Tebow for an inspiring conversation on faith, courage, and living with purpose.
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Dr. Josh Axe
Damaris Thomas out over the 45 midfield. Here we go. 40, 35. Foot race. 20, 15. 10. Touchdown Denver. It's over.
Tim Tebow
It's over in Denver.
Dr. Josh Axe
Tim Tebow's performance Sunday in Denver's upset win over Pittsburgh sent people flocking to the Internet. The game made John 3:16 the most.
Tim Tebow
Searched item on Google. During the game, you threw for 316 yards. Your yards per rush were 3.16. Your yards per completion were 31.6. The time of possession was 31.06 and the ratings for the night were 31.6. And during the game, 90 million people Google John 3:16 and it's the number one thing on all social media right now. And you know, my favorite stories are God stories once you could have never written. When I wore that national championship and 94 million people googled it. And then three years later to the date of when I wore it, we're playing the Steelers in the playoffs and we win this crazy game and in overtime on an 80 yard touchdown. And then I'm getting ready to do the press conference and I'm told what just happened and I'm blown away. And I know there's several times that I've told that story and you know, to crowds and people cheer and they clap for it. And I say, I didn't have the same response you did because my first response was shame and guilt. Because we think in our society what is great is the, you know, the goat the greatest of all time. Or it is success, or it is money, or it is fame. And go back to your point of of influencers. Man, I can't tell you how many times I've fallen in that trap. Too many times, unfortunately. I live the roller coaster with the rest of the world of my life. The highs and the lows versus of actually having my identity planted firmly in Christ. Even though I know the truth, it wasn't where I was placing my identity. Too many days and too many times. My identity was in all these other things, in the highest or the lows. And if you do that, your life is going to be a roller coaster.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Your emotions and your joy and your peace. It's going to be a roller coaster because you're putting on, number one, your circumstances rather than your savior.
Dr. Josh Axe
Everybody, welcome here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I'm so excited. Today we have Tim Tebow. Tim is a Heisman Trophy winner. He is an NFL athlete, he's a New York Times best selling author. But more than anything, he's a person on a Mission that wants to help people and help people that are in the toughest positions in life. Everything from sex trafficking to people who have been sort of discarded by the world today. And today we're going to be talking about how to find your true identity, how to find your purpose, how to be healthy, have a big impact, and how to honor God with your body. Tim, welcome to the show.
Tim Tebow
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. And we also have an awesome mutual friend, our ghostwriter for both of us, AJ Gregory. She's so wonderful, so it's awesome that we have that in common. And she speaks so highly of you, so I love getting this opportunity to hang with you.
Dr. Josh Axe
Oh, well, thanks so much, Tim. Well, yeah, we love A.J. she's the best. And, you know, I've read several of your books. I think I read maybe your first book. What was the book? You were like holding a football and you had a.
Tim Tebow
Through my eyes.
Dr. Josh Axe
Through my eyes.
Tim Tebow
Yeah.
Dr. Josh Axe
I remember reading that book, and I was so positively impacted by it. And I want to say more than anything, when I read that book, it filled me with a greater sense of identity for myself. Just thinking about how. And at the same time of watching that or reading that book, I also watched they did some sort of documentary on you where you're. I remember a couple scenes. You're throwing a football the entire time when you're mic'd up, you're quoting Bible verses and scriptures the whole time. And I remember just being so inspired, just thinking, wow, this is a guy who is in professional sports and in media, and most people are not very outspoken about their faith in Christianity, but you were incredibly outspoken and didn't change who you were at all. And I thought, man, this guy has a really strong sense of identity, of knowing who he is, and it impacted me in a positive way.
Tim Tebow
Thank you.
Dr. Josh Axe
What caused you to have such a strong sense of identity?
Tim Tebow
I don't know that I always have. Feel like it's been a journey of highs and lows, of learning, adapting, growing of God, working on my heart and in my mind to constantly grow closer to him and say yes to the call that he has on my life and the calling that we all have. And I appreciate that compliment, but I don't know that I was always outspoken. I have a dad that has been so bold and courageous for his faith. And there were so many times growing up where we would, after church, go to lunch at a place, and my dad would stand up and be like, hey, everyone, we're a praying family. We're gonna you know, pray for our meal. But we'd love, if anybody else wants to join you. And I would just be like, you know, dad, why do you. Why do you gotta be so bold? Why you gotta invite everyone into this? And it's just that was such a different style of boldness that I hate saying this right now, but the reality was there was so many times I was like, dad, why do you have to be so outspoken? And the reality is, because he loved Jesus so much, and he knew and knows that it's the greatest message of all time, and it's the greatest trait of all time. When we accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, there is the greatest trade where we are imputed righteousness and he takes our sin.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And so many times when I was young, but especially into high school, when I would be like, dad, man, I'm just. I'm nervous about getting up and talking for overseas and preaching. I'm nervous. And he would say, why? And I'd say, well, I don't. I just don't want to screw it up. He said, well, Timmy, do you know Jesus? I said, yeah, dad. Do you love him? Yeah, dad. Do you think that he loves all the people that you're about to talk to? Yeah, I do. So what are you nervous about? Are you really just nervous because you're more worried about what they think of you or what they think of Jesus? And the way that he would frame it to me showed me how selfish I was, you know, without telling me you're selfish, but you found something, the greatest gift, the greatest love, the greatest rescue of all time. And without saying it would be implied as how selfish are you that you wouldn't want to tell them because you're worried about how you look? And that's been too much of reality throughout my life. And I think one of the. The greatest regrets that I have so many times is that I was more worried about what people thought about me than what they knew about King Jesus.
Dr. Josh Axe
Well, you know, I think this is true for myself. I think it's true of all Christians, is that I think about the same thing. I think about anytime I've not been bold in my faith or outspoken, it's because I'm trying to protect myself. I'm trying to please man more than God. Right. And so there's sort of that misplaced hope in where we're putting those things.
Tim Tebow
And it's a misplaced identity that we think our identity has something to. To do with what they think about me versus what God has already said about me that when we know Jesus, we're redeemed, we're reconciled, we're made right with him. Not because of our actions, because of his actions. And that I'm no longer defined by my scars. I'm defined by his scars. And we don't fully embrace and trust that truth and that promise. And so we keep leaning back on. But I need this, and I need this, and I need this. When really what we should be leaning is what I need is Jesus.
Dr. Josh Axe
Easier to share your faith when you're just focused on serving and loving that person and introducing them to Jesus.
Tim Tebow
Absolutely.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. There's a quote, and I'd love to get your thoughts on this and how this relates to identity. There's A quote by A.W. tozer, maybe my favorite author, and he says this. He says, the most important thing about you is your beliefs about God. Essentially.
Tim Tebow
Yes.
Dr. Josh Axe
What do you think about that?
Tim Tebow
I think that it is a very profound quote. And I think AW Tozer has a lot of them.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Because when we understand or when we have a right view of God, it also gives us a right view of ourselves.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And humility. And modern psychologists, how they define it is taking an accurate view of yourself. And I think that's so important because when we take an accurate view of ourself, it gives us a better chance of taking an accurate view of God. Because so many times we want to place ourselves there on a pedestal instead of putting God on a pedestal and taking ourself off and knowing man my sins what nailed Jesus to the cross. The gospel is personal.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
The whips. That whip Jesus should be named after me. And I think when we really talk about the gospel, we really need to understand three parts. What we have been saved from, who we have been saved by, what we have been saved for. Like what. What we have been saved by is eternal separation. Or what we've been saved from, is eternal separation from God. Who we've been saved by is a king that loves us so much, that gave his best, that came down and lived a perfect life, put on flesh, lived a perfect life, chose to die a death not just for us, but also instead of us. And that he loves us so much that he would all he would give up himself and offer us. He defeats sin and death and become sin so we could be made the righteousness of God. And he offers us a free gift of eternal life. Like, are you kidding me? What a king that would do that? It reminds me of a story of Alexander the Great, because I Don't even know how to describe him except as Alexander the Great, right? And he went to a fortified city and took some of his men. And he told the opposing king, he said, I want you and all of your army and all your people to surrender now. And the opposing king's like, what are you talking about? We have a full army, a fortified city. You just have a few of your soldiers.
Dr. Josh Axe
And.
Tim Tebow
And Alexander the Great said, let me give you a demonstration. And he told his men to line up in a single file line and start walking right to a cliff. And one by one, the men fell off the cliff to their death. Till ten of his men walked off the edge of the cliff and fell to the death. Then he told the rest of them, come stand by me. And the opposing king shook, terrified. And the people watched from the top of the city walls. And after that, they instantly surrendered. And, you know, some will say he gave them a demonstration. But see, we don't have another way to describe Alexander the Great except as Alexander the Great. That's all I know is how to describe him. Except this king was known as great because of his winds and his territory and his land and his possessions and what he conquered, except when we view him as great. But we viewed Jesus as, you know, when people argue about who Jesus is, but yet Jesus is the one that said, no, no, no, you deserve that death, but I love you so much, I'll take. I'm going to go instead of you. It's not like Alexander the Great that's saying, hey, I'm going to sacrifice my men for more land or power. He said, no, I'm going to sacrifice myself so that you could live and live abundantly. That's how much I love you. That's the king that we get to serve. That's the king. And so when we have an accurate picture of who King Jesus is and what he has done for us, it changes everything. The gospel is the only thing that changes everything about everything. It changes our identity. It changes how we see people. It changes how we should treat people. It changes everything. And that's the hope that we have of the gospel.
Dr. Josh Axe
It's so powerful. You know, I was watching. I know you've been on. I watched you on Jordan Peterson. This was maybe about. Maybe six months ago or so. And one of the things that he. The way he describes identity is this. He says identity is basically based on three things. One, you're attaching yourself to something or someone, and then you're getting your roles and responsibilities in life from that Something or someone. And I think about that, like, even as being a. And I know you're a new father, I think about myself as a father with this. We're girl dads here.
Tim Tebow
Yes.
Dr. Josh Axe
And so, like, okay, if I'm attaching myself to Jesus, the greatest person, God as well, and it's the greatest thing I could ever attach myself to, and then that gives me my role as a father and being a father, like, he was a father. Also my responsibilities to sacrifice everything and help train up my child in the way they could go. Like, just so, like, that's some of where I know identity comes from. I want to ask you, as a new father, has that changed your own identity? Has that changed maybe even, like, you understanding, you know, your relationship with God? I mean, how has that impacted you becoming a new dad?
Tim Tebow
I think it is so incredible, and it's such a crazy blessing, but a lot of people ask, did you ever know you could have a love like this? I said, well, I don't know if that's been the biggest takeaway, because right since the moment Demi told me she was pregnant, I think I already felt, like, instantly felt that love for a baby that I had never met.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
But I do think one of the things that has changed is when we get home from the hospital and I set Daphne, our little girl, down in her bassinet, I'm like, okay, Demi, what do we do now? What's next? Like, what's the protocol? What's the game plan? But one of the things that starts to hit you is this level of responsibility. So I start to instantly think, not just a few steps ahead, but 10 steps ahead, five years ahead. And you start to think, well, this cabinet, this door, this dresser, they all have to be changed, because this is a future problem. This is a future issue. This is a future need. This could be a stumbling block. And so you start to prepare in advance. But, man, I started to think about that and to a little extent, was convicted of. Why don't we always think that way, not just for our own immediate family, but for. For the hurting and the suffering around the world? Why don't we have that level of responsibility all of the time? Because the way that we view our children is, I believe, the way that God views all of humanity.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And yet we take that deeper level of ownership and responsibility for our daughters versus how we should actually have that for the world, for all of humanity.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. Yeah. That's powerful. You know, the other thing that made me think of is actually when you were sort of Describing how, you know, always just thinking about your daughter for the next five, 10, 20 years. I mean, already in her eternity, God's doing the same thing for us, like working everything out for our good, putting things up so we can win, so we can grow, so we can become more like him. So I think there's such a powerful thing between knowing how much God loves us, and then we can take that exact same love and pour that out towards our kids. But to your point, pour that out towards the world. You know, one of the things that I've admired so much about you is that you have dedicated a big part of your life to helping the people that were most in need. I mean, again, I think about Mother Teresa doing this. I mean, she did this just at the highest level I can imagine in terms of going to Calcutta. And I don't know how many people. I know you've traveled a lot internationally. I know that I did mission trips of China and Africa and places like that. And I know that it was just. It's not the same level of standards of living in the United States. I mean, we're talking about the level of disease, and just the lack of so many things is so high there. But that she poured her entire life into taking care of the people that were the lowest of the low.
Tim Tebow
That's right.
Dr. Josh Axe
And I know that you've dedicated your life to a similar thing. Before I get to that, though, I do want to say something else. Mother Teresa has this quote that I was reading. I've read several of her books, and I just love them. But one of her quotes was, the greatest destroyer of peace today in the world is abortion. How do you feel about that quote from Mother Teresa?
Tim Tebow
It's very personal to me because the. Well, if we take a step back, what is really hard about this conversation is that so much. When we get into it, I'll start out by my own story because it's personal to me, because my. My parents were told that they needed to have an abortion with me and that at first they thought I was a tumor. They didn't think I was a baby. And then they found out I was a baby. And my mom had so many issues. She had amoeba, dysentery. The placenta only had a tiny bit that was attached. She went into a coma multiple times in the pregnancy.
Dr. Josh Axe
Wow.
Tim Tebow
And the. Finally, they found a doctor that had been doing this for a long time. And this doctor who had helped deliver, I believe, over 35,000 babies when he was helping my mom in delivery, he looked at me and looked at my mom and my dad and said, this is the greatest miracle I've ever seen. Because I have no idea how this boy is alive. And I'm just so grateful for my parents faith and courage and trusting God and giving me a chance and for God sparing my life. And I was malnourished, but I tried to make up for it quickly. And I'm just, I'm so grateful. And, and when we, we talk about this issue, I really believe that in the pro life movement, one of the ways that we could cover more ground and influence and love people better is if we did a better job of loving all life all the time, no matter what, no matter where. And that's every life, all of the time, from womb to tomb.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
From every background, every ethnicity, every ability or disability. Like it's. We have to value life. Why? Because there's only one thing that Jesus died for people, life to give us life and life abundantly. And it is something that is, is so personal for me in so many areas. And I love getting to encourage people on the value of life, on the value of humanity, that every life was created in love by love and for love on purpose and for a purpose that every single life was created in the image of God. And what does that even really mean? Years ago, four or five years ago, I was at one of our Night to Shines in Arizona. Night to Shine is our worldwide celebration for individuals with special needs. And we were there and it was during COVID and we were having a shine through instead of Night to Shine. It was a shine through and so people were still in their cars and most of them were Corvettes. And so all the kings and queens would be in the back of the Corvettes and going through all of these massive lines of people that are waiting, waving to him, you know, from a short distance as they're driving by and we're waving and we're just celebrating all these kings and queens and it's surreal. And there's this red Corvette that is pulling past us really, really slow and we're just losing our mind and our voices cheering for this girl that's standing up in the back and she's just beaming, beaming with joy. And as the, the car drives by, I didn't even know our team and, and the partner churches had these bumper stickers, but the car pulls by and there's a bumper sticker on said royalty on board. And I couldn't help but get emotional and think, that's right. Yeah, she's Royalty. Yeah, she's royalty to God.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
So it started us on this track of really researching and looking at what does it mean to be made in the image of God. And so many times we'll, we'll hear people talk. Well, it's, you know, kind of one of three main things. It's rational that we were created rational to be able to be logical and think and process information. And then another one's relational to be in relationship with God and with each other. And then another one's functional to rule and reign. And I think all three of those are part of it. But I was so convicted that it can't be all of it, because what does that mean for some with a lesser of ability in some of those areas? Are they made less of the image of God? And I believe the answer is absolutely no. 16% of our world has special needs. And I thought, man, it just, that can't be it. And so we started to dive into it. And you're looking at when the image of blank is used in the ancient near east, and the majority of times that it's used, it's used for, let's say an Assyrian king that would be made in the image of Bell, a God that they believed in, or an Egyptian king would be made in the image of Ra God that they believed in. And so you look at this term and it's a term that is used for kings or for monarchs. It's a term that's used for royalty.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And so when they, when in the ancient near east, when they would have looked at Genesis and they would have said, man, we're. We're made in God's image and likeness. What I believe that they would have been taking is they would have been taking this as a worth and value statement, as a royal worth statement. It's not just a relational or rational or functional. It is a worth, promise and statement that our God is making. I love you so much. I made you in my image. How I view you is of royal worth. And that would have been staggering. I think that gets lost in our society today. The worth and the value of all of humanity, not just from one another, because that is so low right now from God. How God values every single one of us is with this royal worth. And that love was then demonstrated by his son Jesus, who goes to the cross. And when we accept the free gift that he offers, then we are adopted into the family of God. What does that mean? We're sons and daughters of the king as royalty, his heart for Us is royalty. And the job was finished on the cross. When we accept Jesus, then we are adopted in the family as royalty. That is his heart for humanity is of royal worth and royalty in his family. That is how we should see people. And that changes everything.
Dr. Josh Axe
It does. It's so powerful. It's so powerful because as we've talked about identity, you have to get your identity from somewhere, something or someone. And when you can get your identity, your true identity, which is really the only identity that works from Christ, it changes who you are. It changes your confidence. It gives you a sense of purpose now of that every action you have is eternally meaningful. I'm thinking that there's this. There's this story of their building a basilica. And I want to say it's. It's somewhere in Europe. And somebody walks up and says, hey, what are you building? And somebody says, well, I'm just. I'm just building a building. I'm just laying bricks. And then, you know, someone else is like, well, I'm building a church. And somebody else is like, I'm building this, you know, this. This place to glorify.
Tim Tebow
That's right. Sir Christopher Wren was rebuilding in London. There was the Great Fire of London, and I think it was like 1666 or something like that. And Sir Christopher Wren, a famed architect, is go. Goes up to the. I believe it was brick builders.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
He asked the first one, what are you doing? And he said, I'm laying bricks. He asked the second one, what are you doing? And he said, I'm building a wall. He asked the third one, what are you doing? And he said, I'm building a great cathedral for God. And perspective matters. Right. They're all doing the same activity, except the purpose behind all three was so different. Yeah, Right. And the third one that's saying, I'm building a cathedral for God. Then his work is his worship. His work every day is more important. The purpose behind it changes everything. And it's our perspective of who we are and what we're doing. Everything changes when we know our true identity in a relationship with Christ.
Dr. Josh Axe
Well, you know, I think this is also why today, you know, one of the things in being. Being in healthcare that I've looked at is like, what causes people to be sick and ill? And I think the single greatest factor, diet's number two. It's not number one. Number one is spiritual emotional mental health issues and stressors. Like different emotions cause disease in different organ systems. I'll give you an example of this too. Kids that grew up Without a father, their risk of having every medical condition you can imagine, everything from cancer to autoimmune disease to chronic pain, is dramatically higher. Like I'm talking about like three to ten times higher than those that grew up with a father.
Tim Tebow
Wow. Has that been studied?
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, yeah, there are numerous, numerous. And also their chance of of course, pregnancy or ending up in jail, a number of other things also of course those increase as well. But yeah, I mean, growing up without a father is one of the worst things that could ever happen to somebody for their health if they don't find a substitute for that father like figure or relationship with God of what. But I bring all that up to say going back to that Christopher Wren story. I think for me, I think my point was, I think that's why a lot of fathers don't show up is they don't understand what an amazing privilege and job that is for me, knowing, wow, as a father, I get to steward over a eternal God given being and help them grow in their character, help them take that unique gift and skill they can to the highest level possible. I just get excited thinking about being able to pour into my daughters, helping them become more Christlike and knowing that's maybe the most important job that I have. But a lot of fathers might think their level of identity or purpose is like, well, I'm a father. Being a father just means impregnating a woman. That's the lowest level they could think and I don't even need to show up. Versus no, being a father means this. You got a new book out called Look Again and I love the title because it's really looking at so many people when they look at themselves, they see somebody that doesn't bring a lot of worth, doesn't have a lot of value, and maybe they see their just they look and see all their flaws. How does your book change the perspective on that for people?
Tim Tebow
Well, hopefully with everything there's two prayers and hopes that I would have with this book is number one, that it would be one of the most encouraging things that you could read of the truth about you. But then number two, how challenging it will also be because when you understand the truth about you and the value that you have to God and how much you are love in your true worth and being made in God's image. But then when we see so many people around us every day that are suffering, it should be a call, an urgent call to respond to and care and love those people. And so I pray that it is encouraging. But I also pray that is it extremely challenging.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Because it is a mandate for us to love God and love people. And when we see so many people that are hurting and suffering around us, how are we going to respond? How are we going to answer that call? And the challenge is that we would really look again, look again at our worth, look again at our value. Look again at our value to God. Look again at what? How God has created us, what God has created us for. That we all have a purpose. What does purpose even mean? The reason something is done, use, created or exist. We are here, we are created. We exist for a purpose, for a mission. And are we going to actually live that out? And there are so many lives for us all to be able to touch and impact and be impacted by. And so the question is, what are we going to do with it? You know, when we are looking at it, we are contemplating agonizing over what the title is. And then we were agonizing about the subtitle and we ultimately ended up on recognizing your worth, renewing your hope so you can run with confidence. And the heart is that you would truly recognize your worth, that we would recognize our God given worth. Because I think believe that is so important for us to actually live with confidence, for us to actually show up every day believing that we're here not by happenstance, not by accidents, but for a reason.
Dr. Josh Axe
Can I tell you that there was a study that I read about a couple years ago and it said only so 75% of people don't know what their purpose is. And about half those people are Christians.
Tim Tebow
That's tough.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. And I think about myself, if I've ever had times in life where I've sort of been in between and not clear on it now I was really blessed to have amazing Christian parents and grow up to where, you know, in my early 20s I had a couple years, went to college and kind of didn't follow my faith the way I should and then rededicated my life to Christ and then was just filled with a sense of purpose. Like I know what it's like to not have purpose and I know what it's like to have major, major purpose. And when you have purpose, it's like your energy goes through the roof, your excitement, your impact, all of those things matter.
Tim Tebow
Everything changes.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
I think that I don't feel like I've been in many places in my life where I didn't have purpose, but I feel like my purpose was directed the wrong places. And then when you can go back to your actual purpose, what it gives you is a stability in that, a truth in that. Because I feel like too many times I have actually placed my worth and my purpose and things that are fickle and don't matter, like a game or sports or the wrong places I place my identity or in relationships or opportunity or praise or platform or recognition, all of these wrong places. I'm a people pleaser by nature. I'm the baby of five in our family. And so I naturally want to make people like me. I want to be friends with people. And that has also led me to getting too many times away from my purpose. And God's had to really humble me a lot of times and remind me that you thought your biggest purpose was a game. I didn't die for a game. I didn't create you just for a game. That's part of your story. But I have more to your life and your purpose than a game. And God's had to remind me of that many times.
Dr. Josh Axe
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Tim Tebow
It is crazy. It's so cool. And you know, my favorite stories are God stories once you could have never written. And when I wore that in the national championship and 94 million people googled it and then three years later to the date of when I wore it. We're playing the Steelers in the playoffs and, and we win this crazy game and in overtime on an 80 yard touchdown. And then I'm getting ready to do the press conference and I'm told what just happened and I'm blown away. And I know there's several times that I've told that story and you know, to crowds and people cheer and they clap for it. And I say I didn't have the same response you did because my first response was shame in guilt that I thought that night was about a game. I thought it was about proving the doubters wrong or the critics wronging. And God in that moment was reminding me, no, it's never just about a game. It's always more than that. Remember going to do the press conference right after and answering questions about the game. But there's these reporters that want to ask about all these things. 316 yards and 31.6 in yards per completion and 3.16 in your yards per rush. And the time of possession is 31.6. And the ratings for tonight are 31.6. And you know, it's the number one training thing all over the world, all these social medias and everything that's happening and I love it. So grateful for that, but also so grateful that I had no idea that God used something that I just thought was kind of in the past. And he's like, you think that I did it then and I'm done. Like you have no idea what I'm doing. And it was such a reminder that God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts and we have no idea what he's doing. But also I, I knew my heart that night was not for the things of eternity and the things of God. It was, it was about pride and ego and I proved the doubters wrong in all of this. And then God's using that, reminding me. And there's all these reporters that are over to the side and they want to ask the question. So they're kind of like, hey Timmy. All of these things adding up to three, one, six, right? Like, man, that's a really big coincidence. And I was like, well, you could believe that it's a really big coincidence or we could believe that we serve a really big God.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, that's so powerful.
Tim Tebow
And it's just such a reminder to me that we really do.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. I remember being blown away and I know it was sort of crazy. And I think about how Jesus talks about this is like Listen, I'm going to create a divide. I'm going to create a divide. And I think about you being one of those people early on. That was the most outspoken Christian athlete I'd ever seen. And you went from winning this playoff game again, winning the Heisman Trophy before all of this success, to the next couple years, basically NFL teams. And I felt like there was a sort of. I mean, I could kind of sense this sort of spiritual thing going on where it kind of feels like you were being denied what the rightful place you should have been in the NFL with your incredible skill set. So how did it impact your faith? How did you deal with even identity wise, going through that sort of, you know, your time in the NFL and all those challenges?
Tim Tebow
Well, I think. First answer, there just should have been some areas that I just played better in. And that would have been. That would have been helpful. But I also view it as an opportunity that God taught me so much. I think God teaches in the highs, but I also think he teaches a lot in the lows. And too many times, unfortunately, I lived the roller coaster of the rest of the world of my life, the highs and the lows, versus actually having my identity planted firmly in Christ. And even though I know the truth, it wasn't where I was placing my identity. Too many days and too many times. My identity was in all these other things, in the highs or the lows. And if you do that, your life is going to be a roller coaster.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Your emotions and your joy and your peace. It's going to be a roller coaster because you're putting on, number one, your circumstances rather than your Savior. But when our Savior is always on the throne and our circumstances are beneath that. And I'm not saying we can't have joy in our circumstances. I'm not saying there's not grief or there's not mourning.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
But even in the midst of those. And it reminds Me of John 16:33, Night before Jesus goes to the cross, he tells his disciples, for in me you have peace. In the world, you are going to have trials or tribulation, but take heart, choose courage. I have overcome the world. Right. Like, we know where there's peace, we know there's going to be trials and tribulations. But you get to constantly look back at the cross and know that I've overcome the world. And that is our identity. That's why we get to. That's why Hebrews tells us we have this hope that is an anchor for our soul, firm and secure. We know that when Jesus defeated sin and death on the cross, that it will never be undone or outdone, that it is true and we can hold fast to those promises and that can be our identity that we hold on to. And that gives us a hope that's not like the world. And my favorite definition of the biblical form of hope is to look forward with confidence, expectation and anticipation. We get to do that because it's based on the promises of God. We get to look forward with confidence because when we look back, we get to see the cross and the finished work of the cross. And when Jesus said to telestai it is finished or paid in full. That counts for us as believers. And then we get to have an expectation that our God isn't just done, but he's still working, that he's our God is still at work in us and through us and in the world. And then we get to have an anticipation, an anticipation that our best days are ahead of us. Why? Because heaven's ahead of us. So we get to actually look forward with the confidence not based on our circumstances, based on our Savior and anticipation, that's based on hope that God is still at work. And then an anticipation that man, we're citizens of heaven. Like that's our identity. When I pull out my id, you know, it says Timothy Richard Tebow in the state of Florida. And there's an expiration date. That's not what my spiritual ID says. My spiritual ID says son of the king, king of the world who forever reign. My spiritual id, there's no expiration date. And it doesn't say Florida, it says heaven. Like that's the identity that we're supposed to have, that we're supposed to live with. You know, I'm so grateful. One of the things that my parents did for us as they celebrated our spiritual birthdays the day that we accepted Christ.
Dr. Josh Axe
Oh, wow.
Tim Tebow
More so than they ever did our actual physical birthdays. And I loved it because it ingrained such a truth. Remember this day, remember this moment, remember this decision. You know, one of the things that is a non negotiable for us at our foundation and our companies and our family is our fifth non negotiable, wants to remember, do not forget. And why we say that is because when you look at Deuteronomy 22 times, I believe that Moses reminds the Israelites to remember or do not forget what God has done. And they had been rescued out of Egypt in the Red Sea party. All of these amazing things that God has done. They saw his love and his Compassion. And they saw him show up time and time again. But then they're into a place and their circumstances they don't really like. And so we're just kind of going to forget what God has done. And they are. They're viewing their circumstances more than they're viewing their love of God. And they're the faithfulness of God and it changes everything. And so for us, we want to strive to have that mindset, to really remember God's faithfulness. Do not forget God's faithfulness, regardless of our circumstances, because we do have hard circumstances. Look at what's taking place around the world. I mean, look at what's happening to Christians being killed in Nigeria right now and around the world, different places, all those that are being martyred for their faith. It is. But yet there's a hope, even in the sucky circumstances.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, you know, I was sharing right before we started filming. I had this spinal infection that left me unable to walk for a year. And the hardest thing through that whole time was, I mean, when I would focus on my diagnosis, because the doctor told me, he said, you're going to be permanently disabled. And he said, the best case scenario is you're going to have chronic terrible pain the rest of your life. Those were his exact words, what he told me. And I had to, if I would focus on that or even go online, because I thought, okay, I'm going to do my own research and see, hey, what are the outcomes if you've got this osteomyelitis and infection around your spinal cord. And I thought, okay, let me look it up. Because he's not giving me the. He's just giving me the worst case diagnosis. And I started looking up stuff online, I thought, but, oh, I feel even worse. I had never felt hopelessness or despair before, but I did for about 48 hours until I finally fixed my eyes back on Jesus. And I thought, he's the great physician, he's the miracle worker. And I just need to live with hope. That's what he calls me to do. That's what I'm called to do. And so I just started focusing on that. And I was full of so much hope, so much joy, so much excitement, knowing God is working a miracle in me right now. But it's just where we're shifting our focus. It's like if I focus here, depression, anxiety, hopelessness, despair, joy.
Tim Tebow
Yes, hope. That's right.
Dr. Josh Axe
So, yeah, it's just.
Tim Tebow
Can't help when you say that. I can't help but think of Hebrews fixing Our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame, finished the race, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, fixing our eyes, a locked focus. And when we do that, everything changes.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, it's so powerful. Well, I'd love for you to walk us through this is a two part question. One would be, and I'd love you to get practical here, what are practical things people can do? Number one, how does somebody practically on a daily basis build their identity? And number two, how does somebody practically find their purpose and live that out?
Tim Tebow
So really good, deep question. Can I start with the purpose one?
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, let's do that.
Tim Tebow
So I've gotten asked this a lot and I first always want to say, I don't know exactly, but one of the things that I've thought of to try to encourage people in this is what's your mindset, what's your skill set, what's your heart set, what's your where set? And when you look at all of that, where God has placed you, what he's given you, what he's let you borrow as a skill set, what has he pricked your heart for? And what has he, how has he developed your mind, let you see, let you think, what problems can you solve? And when you add all of that up and you give it to God, all of those different sets, I believe God turns it into a superset. That's so good, you know, but, but where has God placed you? What does he prick your heart for? What does you open your eyes for? You see, for me, when I look at and trying to discover my purpose in life over and over and over and over and over again, God has opened my eyes and pricked my heart for those that are suffering, for those that have been looked past or beyond or through or viewed as less than or insignificant or cursed. And I really believe that he opened my eyes to these encounters and he pricked my heart. Not because he was saying, I just want you to be aware of this. No, because I want you to step in and do something about it. I love them as much as I love you. But what are you going to do about it? It's not enough to feel something. There's a lot of people that feel something. But I want you to do something. What are you going to do? And that's why if we leave, when we walk down the street, you could see someone that is hurting or someone that is homeless or someone that has been hurt or afflicted and we could have sympathy or empathy, but you could have that on the other side of the street. Yeah, but you can't have compassion from the other side of the street. See, up compassion is up close and personal. And it the. In the Greek, it's the word splognizomai, which means to be moved from your most inward parts. And eight times, I believe in scripture is used to talk about Jesus, that he saw people hurting enough compassion, splognizomite to be moved from his most inward parts. That's not comfortable, it's uncomfortable. Yeah, it is a pain. But then he. He met there and he cared for them and he met their needs in the same way. We are called not just to have sympathy or empathy, but we are called to have compassion. And I really believe another good definition of the modern day, how we should talk about is to care so much for someone you're willing to suffer with them.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And a lot of times people don't really always like that because it makes us uncomfortable. But maybe when we have compassion, we could help someone that is uncomfortable, maybe one day be comfortable if we are willing to get uncomfortable. But we live in a society that's so easy to seek and choose and want comfort, to want security. But I really believe when we choose comfort and security, we miss so much meaning, purpose and significance.
Dr. Josh Axe
And really it's the only way to grow. Like, I think about the times in my life when I look back and I'm like, well, I really grew. Like, I'm more like Christ now. I'm more compassionate, I'm more. It's been times where I'm like, this has been where I've been changing the most. I've been the most uncomfortable. I've been doing things that are out in the ordinary.
Tim Tebow
Well, think about how God has made us to grow and adapt. Think about when we lift weights. Happens, you're uncomfortable, you tear down and it grows back bigger. I believe the same way with our faith muscle. And I believe the same way. And understanding what God's called us to do is listen. God can do whatever, whenever, however he wants. Like, you know, I. He can do that. I just don't always see him do it in certain ways. I don't hear a lot of testimonies of people are like, man, I was on Netflix and I believe God called me to something incredible while I was watching Netflix. But I hear all the time, all the time, my whole life, people on mission trips or they were part of a service project and they were like, man, when I was out there, you know, God did something in my heart. He did something to me. I couldn't even explain it. I just knew I wanted more of it.
Dr. Josh Axe
That's right.
Tim Tebow
I don't know why God chooses to do it that way, but I believe that he uses that a lot. And maybe part of it is because you're willing to get uncomfortable. You're willing to take a step of faith. You're willing to care about someone else. You're willing to. To seek outside your own goals, ambitions, and dreams, and to care for someone most of the time that can't do anything for you. And I just see so many times God show up in those moments and impact people.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. You know, one of the things I think about too is, is that there's this sort of idea or definition of success today that's around, hey, you got a lot of fame, you got so many social followers, you got so much money. And so I think people kind of latch onto that. I remember looking at some statistic around like Gen Z and, you know, when I was a kid and probably very similar with you, it's like, what do you want to be when you grow up? Fireman, Astronaut, Doctor, President?
Tim Tebow
Say the same things.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, everybody says the same things. But today it's a social media influencer is the number one thing. And you think, well, why do you want to be a social media influencer? Well, people see, oh, well, that means you're popular, you know, and people want to be liked. People want to be popular. And so versus, if you have this biblical mindset, Jesus is like, sit at the end of the table, not at the head of the table. And it's just such a different mindset of understanding. No, I went and took the trash out for the neighbor. I went and I went on a mission trip. I donated to somebody. I act with compassion. That's success. Those are crowns in heaven. Jordan Rubin, a good friend of mine, we've talked about this quite often. If we have some, there's this man named Charles Mulley, and he's got this amazing orphanage in Kenya that he's built. And so anyways, we just talked about a number of people like that. Heidi Baker is another friend of ours. And just looking at what they've done, we're like, man, they've got a lot of crowns in heaven. I mean, they've got such a great eternal perspective. And C.S. lewis says this. The people that do the most in this life are the people that think the most about the next life. And I think those sort of mindsets are incredibly powerful. I want to go back because I'd love you to share anything practical on identity are there and I'll share this for myself. You know, I found I think my identity changes the most when I read the Bible and read scriptures and meditate on them and how it impacts me in terms of God's who God says I am.
Tim Tebow
Yes.
Dr. Josh Axe
But probably even more than that. When I'm spending time around righteous, virtuous people that model Christ, like when I see them and see what they do, it makes me want to do like I'm convicted.
Tim Tebow
It's contagious.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And when you're around those people, you, you want to be around them more. You want to, to look at the hope that they have that they hold on to. You want to look at the meaning and the purpose and the significance and, and the passion that they have. It's contagious. But I just want to mention something that you just saying about, about being a servant and what success looks like. And it can't help but be reminded of scripture. The greatest among you will be a servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. We, we know that the greatest is King Jesus. He humbled himself, took on the form of flesh, was, you know, as a bond, servant being made in likeness of men. Humbled himself to the point of death, even death on the cross. And when we talk about what, what striving for greatness is, it's about caring for others, it's about being a servant. And ultimately it's having an eternal perspective on the things that really matter. Because we think in our society what is great is the, you know, the goat, the greatest of all time. Or it is success or it is money, or it is fame. And you go back to your point of, of influencers, man. I can't tell you how many times I've fallen in that trap as a people pleaser because of the wanting people to like you. And I just, you know, when you look at social medias, what's on all of them, a like button. And so it perpetuates this. I want to be liked. I want to be liked. I want to have more people like me. And I thought about this quite a few years ago. What if we change the like button to a respect button button? What would happen? What would we try to post? What would we share? How would we try to go about loving, caring, influencing people? And it's been a big shift for me and a big challenge. And it's one it's one I constantly have to work on is trying to choose to earn respect versus gain likes. Because likes are fickle. They come and go. You, you share something, talk to someone and you say something they like, boom, I'm gonna like you. You say one thing they disagree with. I unvallow, I dislike, I don't like you. Versus the respect. It's harder to gain, but it lasts so much longer.
Dr. Josh Axe
Wow.
Tim Tebow
Like when you earn people's respect when you work for it, then when you come to a disagreement, they might disagree, they might not like something, but they still have respect for you.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
I can't tell you how many honestly heroes of mine I disagree with something, but I still have such an immense respect. We can have great conversations. We can be iron that sharpens iron. Even though we disagree on something, disagreement is okay. I actually believe that many times it can be a good thing because we can sharpen one another with disagreements. But it doesn't mean we devalue people because of disagreements. And right now we're in a society when, when we disagree, we devalue. You are less than because you don't have the same opinion, political or faith based or society based or whatever it is. We devalue people. And when we devalue people based on your opinion, we're saying that your value only came from your opinion to start with.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, I mean, I think that's incredibly profound. This is one of the things I'm going to walk away with that you share today. I think that's so wise because I think that anytime I post now, I'm going to be more conscious of is this advancing God's kingdom and is this something I'm going to think about the respect button? I think it's powerful. You know, I had this is. We're a few weeks out from this, Charlie Kirk being assassinated and I was posting to pray for him and a number of things and I lost like 10,000 followers and you know, in a real short period of time. But I kept posting because I really knew that I needed to talk about it. I just felt led to talk about it. I'm curious for yourself, did that impact you in any way have any impact on you in terms of when you. When you crushed me? Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Heartbroken from it. Yeah, I was heartbroken from the assassination for what Erica and their family had to go through and is going through from their loved ones, from friends, from all of. From just the thought of man, kids one day and other friends and loved ones can just go back and watch that video. And, but I also believe that we serve a God that is working all things together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose. And I believe that Charlie and Erica and their family were called according his purpose and love God.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Somehow, somehow, even though we don't know and we can't see it, we serve a God that's somehow working all of this together for good. It doesn't mean all things are good. Yeah, but he's working this tragedy, this evil together for good somehow. And then you see all these people go to church the next weekends and you see all these people that are, are praying and, and, and that is so incredible. But I would say another thing that broke my heart was then seeing certain people celebrate.
Dr. Josh Axe
Hello? Yeah.
Tim Tebow
What took place.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And that would take me back to the same conversation we just had. That you are celebrating a young man's death because you had a difference of opinion, which means his value to the world was based or devalued either way. Based on his opinion, not his true God given worth. Yeah, it's, it's, it's heartbreaking to see people celebrate that. And that shouldn't ever be the case. Regardless of our agreements or disagreements, but regardless of our political stances, regardless of our, our faith based stances, we should know that every single person has a worth and a value that is priceless because it was priceless to God because God gave his life for you and for me, like. And so I just, I just, I'm not sure out of all of that what I've been heartbroken by most. Charlie, if it's the family. But man, I have to say watching Erica and how she's handled has been such an encouragement and an influence and had an impact on me and my wife. And I can't even imagine what she's going through, what she's been through, but the hope through it, the resilience, absolutely incredible.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. You know, the thing that I feel like I was struck by the most is I saw this post the first time it popped up on my feed. This is really soon after a picture of him and Erica with her two kids, holding their two kids, you know, and I just wept. And it's been rare for me to cry for somebody I'd never met before. But I just thought like, and part of it was probably like, we have kids almost the same age and I've got two little kids. I've got a one year old, he had a one year old. I have a five year old. I think he had a three year old and just thinking, wow, that, you know, if that was me or Chelsea or, you know, just growing up without a dad, you know. So I think for me, you know, just. It really just hit me and it became personal. You know, the other thing that I was convicted by, and this is something that I just so admire about you, and I'm even convicted just through our conversation here is. But having that same heart for anyone that dies, or having that same heart for kids that are Israeli or Palestinian or Iranian or whatever. And so. And that's what's so amazing about Jesus. I mean, his heart broke for everybody. You know, it just, you know, he wanted to heal everybody. You know, we read the stories about, you know, the, you know, the Samaritans or the woman at the well or people who. And, you know, he cared for them, too.
Tim Tebow
The blind, the beggars, those with leprosy. He went to the least, the last, and the lost. When you look at Jesus, publicly recorded miracles, over 60% were for those who were afflicted, and over 70% were for those who we'd categorize as the MVP, the most vulnerable people.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And he had a heart for those that were overlooked. And, you know, Scripture tells us that God is near to the brokenhearted. When I think about that, God's near to the brokenhearted means I want to be, too. Yeah, I don't want to spend my life. I've spent way too much chasing the wrong things. I don't want to spend the rest of my life being far from the brokenhearted. You know, being afraid of the tough, the crisis, conflict or chaos. I want to be in those places. I want to be in the hardest place because I know that our God shows up in the darkness. And when darkness and light meet, light wins every single time. And we know that God is near to the brokenhearted. And, man, I believe that should be a stirring and an urgency in our hearts to be there, too.
Dr. Josh Axe
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Tim Tebow
It's always been super important to me, although my actions for it have drastically changed as I've been striving to learn more and grow and adapt. I mean when I was in college, they were telling us to carb load and you know, and so I was eating, I was doing what I thought was good, but now I think is pretty terrible.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And some of the stuff that I was eating, but I've been very convicted and really felt almost a responsibility with it as well. I was, can't remember if it was 8th, 9th grade, something like that. I put a box of Cocoa Pebbles in mom's grocery bag at Publix and we get into line and a young boy that was younger than me but was watching me in sports and he said, look, look dad. And my mom's right and we're right in front. He said, look dad, you know Tebow eats Cocoa Pebbles. I'm gonna go get Cocoa Pebbles. And it's crushing. It's crushing to me. And how wow you. It's A bad influence. And when I was 15, I haven't had a soft drink since and just tried to make certain decisions that I believe were best. Now a lot of that has changed in learning and growing. And so I really believe in stewardship and how stewardship is not just a financial thing. It's not just our actions. I also believe a big part of it is our bodies. And I believe that when we look at scripture and the word for stewardship is oikonomia, and the picture that scripture paints of that is that we're housekeeping house managers. And when the. The master of the house, when the owner of the house shows back up, did we have everything in place? Did we take care of the house? And. And that's every area of our life that is in our actions. It's in our mind, it's in our bodies, it's in our temples, it's in our giving, it's in all of these areas of our life. And too many times we just kind of focus on a few of them versus really focus on all of them. And I think our bodies are a massive part, because when we talk about running this race that God has for us and the purpose that God has for us and, and trying to show up with the right mindset, heart, posture, all of this, how could we actually do it to the best of our ability to be the best stewards if we're not putting the right fuel in our body, if our mind is cloudy because we're putting junk, if our body is lackadaisical because we don't have the energy, I don't just believe it's for performance. It's for a stewardship that changes our performance. Right. And that is so important. How could we say, God, I want to run this race all out, but if I'm not going to put the fuel in my body to go run the race?
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, that's so good.
Tim Tebow
It's, it's. It's silly to me. And we also just don't talk about it a lot. Yeah, we just don't.
Dr. Josh Axe
Well, I think about growing up so being real involved with churches. Like, I went to church on Sunday, then Sunday school, then Wednesday nights, then, you know.
Tim Tebow
Oh, yeah. And.
Dr. Josh Axe
But church potlucks, I mean, historically have been the worst, the absolute worst.
Tim Tebow
Like it is.
Dr. Josh Axe
And I will say, you know, I mean, I know we've got some mutual friends like Craig Groeschel, I think about guys like Stephen Furney. There are more pastors. This was not the case 20, 30 years ago. We got some buff Pastors, you know, like Craig Groeschel recently, and he. I mean, incredibly fit for his age. So impressive. So I think pastors now more than ever are aware, however, it still needs to get better. I even think about, you know, we're called to be a light of the world and salt of the earth. And I think part of that is we should be shining in all areas. We should be shining in our careers and our health and all these things.
Tim Tebow
Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all of your might. I believe that applies to every category that we live in. And one of my very sweet friends that we get to do ministry with, someone that I look up to so much is a man that has put his life on the line for our country so many times, and it's taken a lot of wounds for our country to keep us free and has been blown up and has been shot at. It's been hurt many times. And we got to partner on an awesome operation for dozens of special needs kids to get them out of an area where they're about to be overrun and get them into a location that was safe for them. And in this operation, this friend of mine, one of his wounds got infected really, really badly. And so he gets back to the States and the doctor's saying, we might have to amputate your leg. And I hear, and I call him, I FaceTime. And I remember where I am. I'm in Colorado, and I'm getting ready to do a talk, and I get this news, and I walk into a private room and I call him and I said, I FaceTime. And I say, man, I am so sorry that. That you're going through this. I mean, I'm so sorry that there's a chance that they have to amputate your leg. And he's looking at me in the hospital bed and he said, oh, thank. Thank you so, so much, Demi. But to be honest, it wasn't mine anyways. God, just let me borrow it for a little while. Talking about his leg, and if I have to lose it, there wouldn't be a better way to lose it than doing this.
Dr. Josh Axe
That's powerful.
Tim Tebow
That's what stewardship looks like.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. Yeah. I want to continue the health conversation, but I do want to jump. I do want to jump to something that I have been so inspired that I know you've been by as well, is helping rescue victims of sex trafficking. I remember having this conversation with people quite a few years ago when I told them the statistics around how bad it was, and they said, that can't be true. True in the United States, that can't be true. Talk to me a little bit about sort of what those current statistics are around sex trafficking and what you are trying to do about it and how we can support you in that.
Tim Tebow
Well, we're trying to do anything and everything to fight on all these battlefronts. And when we talk about the trafficking or exploitation or abuse of people, it is rampant around the world. And so many times we just think it's over there, but it's not. It's here in our communities, in the nicest communities in America. And it is at a rampant rate. You know, this year there will be around 400 million people around the world that are abused or exploited. You have over 50 million people that are trapped in human trafficking in one way or another.
Dr. Josh Axe
50 million.
Tim Tebow
Over 50 million.
Dr. Josh Axe
Wow.
Tim Tebow
And that's a, you know, in the best experts guess, it's probably a low estimation and there are more people that are being trafficked or exploited than probably ever in history. And then when we look at it here in the States, people say, well, that's just happening over there. But it's not. When we talk about those that are sharing and distributing on the peer to peer networks the abuse of boys and girls, like we used to trade baseball cards, they're trading this material. We're third worst in the world. It's China, Russia, US and then Italy.
Dr. Josh Axe
Wow.
Tim Tebow
When we talk about the, the, the buying of live stream rape of, of boys and girls, we're the number one buyer in the world. Oh, I mean this is unbelievable. It is in, in our opinion, it's one of the worst evils in the world.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And I think it's also important that we distinguish between exploitation and trafficking because primarily for trafficking, it is done for profit. Now obviously those that are buyers are doing it for pleasure, but in the exploitation space that is primarily done for pleasure and kind of usually get thrown into the same lump together. But it is one of the worst evils that we're trying to fight on every battlefront. Whether that is in policy and legislation, whether it's to be able to safeguard as many as possible. It's long term restoration. It is in labor trafficking, sex trafficking, organ harvesting, forced marriages, you know, all of these areas. And it's so nuanced and different. Whether we talk about technology and the sextortion and the grooming and the luring of boys and girls, which is rampant, you're just, you know, it's such a, a vast area of battlefronts that we got to have more people step in on, on different ones. And this is where we got to build up more technology that can fight. We got to have more people on the line. We got to have more safe homes around the country and around the world. You know, one of the, the latest studies that I've seen is that every day there, about 25,000 people enter into the world of trafficking and only 500 exit. It is a battle that there are wins in, but we are losing every day.
Dr. Josh Axe
Wow. Well, I think this goes back to a conversation we were having earlier where it's really uncomfortable to talk about. It's uncomfortable for sometimes for people to face that reality, but I think for people out there and you can share more than I'm about to share on what people can do. But I think being able to post online and bring awareness, I think being able to give whenever you can, what the Lord leads you to give. I know Chelsea and I have two organizations in particular that we've given to just regularly to support this cause. But I know that this is something, again, I think it's uncomfortable for people because it's just such a great, just a great tragedy. But what are some things people can do? Any, Anything.
Tim Tebow
Well, I think start by understanding the threats that when your kids go online. One of the examples I would give is if you were going to take your two kids to a playground, would you do it if you knew that there were hundreds of offenders walking around that playground looking for kids?
Dr. Josh Axe
No.
Tim Tebow
There's no chance?
Dr. Josh Axe
No.
Tim Tebow
Every time that we go on the Internet, it's not much different. Yeah, there are people that are looking to groom, to lure, to exploit.
Dr. Josh Axe
I just want to say this. I have someone I met, he's kind of a friend I had met and this happened to his daughter, this guy, I mean, he's a multi millionaire, very successful Christian family. His daughter posted a picture of herself wearing a little less clothing on Instagram and then somebody somehow like got some of the files and then manipulated her and then went down this whole path of, and let her into this. So this is happening to, you know.
Tim Tebow
This isn't, this isn't rare. This is happening at a staggering, to a staggering amount of families and kids. And I believe it was in 20, 2024 that meta took down, I believe it was 74, 000 accounts on meta from Nigeria alone that were trying to groom or sex Dort.
Dr. Josh Axe
Oh, wow.
Tim Tebow
American boys and girls.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
74, 000 accounts in one year alone, just on Meta. So we gotta understand the, the mass of this, like this is one of the greatest evils in the world that is taking place and it's not over there. It is right here. Here it is. It is being done right here. We hard for me to share but just a few days ago we had an incredible survivor we that had just been beaten with a rake so bad that it's broken a lot of different bones in her face and, and the level of evil. Right. And that's honestly why such a big part of the heart of look again. Right?
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Like is to really see the value and worth that. Look at how we are exploiting one another, how we are abusing one another, how we are taking advantage of one another. And some people say, well I don't do that. Yeah but how many times do we just walk past when we could stand in the gap? How you know, we, we serve a king that didn't walk past. He didn't look by, he didn't just go and sit at the head of table and no, he went to the those that are hurting when everybody is saying like why, why would you go and help those with leprosy like and this is crazy like what are you doing? Yet he's going out of his way to help those. He's got out of those way that are hurting. And that's what we're called to do as well in their darkest hour of need. And that's the mission that we try to live out every day.
Dr. Josh Axe
One of the things that I'm really excited for people to get your book look again because I think that one thing that happens is when you see and you are able to start seeing yourself in a certain light and you have more value you and you understand that Christ died for you, then it does something to you where maybe you start seeing people differently.
Tim Tebow
That's right.
Dr. Josh Axe
There's another again, I love CS Lewis. He has a quote that I'm not going to say the whole thing is a little bit long but he's like if we could really see people in their spiritual form, we would just be blown away if we could see their potential, if we could see their God given nature, if we could see that sort of spirituality of who they actually are. He says something like we would sort of like shudder just we would be so blown away by them. And so I think when we're able to understand we're here, Christ died for us, our value and our worth and then we see the worth and value in others.
Tim Tebow
It works both ways, which is the heart of it. When we understand our worth and value and Then I see other people. There's something that's going to happen. I can't help but then see it in them. And now when I see people with infinite value and worth, worth suffering, I will have to be compelled to do something.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
I can't sit there and be idle by. I have to respond. And that's why, you know, I was mentioning earlier about the challenge. We are challenged to respond. How will we respond? How will we respond to those that are suffering? How will we respond to those that are in need? When we really realize that it is our job, and I believe our mandate to respond and care for those in their darkest hour of need, what will we do? And when you really realize your worth, and you realize their worth, how could I walk by? I was thinking of talking about this with some of our team last night. We're just talking about examples of it, and I thought of one. I thought, you know what? Like, if you dropped a penny and you said, hey, Timmy, I just dropped a penny, where's the penny at? Like, I'd, you know, probably be like, josh, why do you care? Like, come on. It's just.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tim Tebow
But if you. You dropped your wife's diamond ring and you said, hey, Timmy, I dropped my wife's diamond ring. I don't know, it's in the seat cushion or it's sitting it down. You know, we would get down and we would. We would pull everything apart and we wouldn't care about the couches because this. That ring is so valuable. It's so valuable because it costs more, but it's more valuable because it's priceless to you and her. Yeah, right. It's such meaning with it.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Except right now, we view people more as pennies than we do. More priceless than the diamond ring.
Dr. Josh Axe
Wow.
Tim Tebow
What if we viewed people as. What if we really did view people as more valuable, more important than the things that we hold precious, like a diamond ring or all of these other things that we think are worth so much, but in the grand scheme, they're going to be worth nothing.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. That's so good. You know, I think about, you know, when I first opened my practice, functional medicine practice, I had the conditions that were growing the fastest statistically were childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, type 2 diabetes. They were just growing so high. But today, if I look at the last five or seven years, it's a lot of mental health and identity issues I think are really worse than they've ever been. And I think that this sort of is aligned with that and that's another thing I just want to say about your new book. Look Again is part of the subtitle. It's finding your identity, finding your purpose and finding your true meaning, your own value. And I think that every single person can benefit from building a stronger identity, building a stronger purpose and finding true meaning in life. And I want to encourage people to get the book. It's called Look Again. It's in bookstores nationwide. You can go on Amazon.com, just go on Amazon and look up, look again. Tim Tebow. So it's his new book. But again, I think for you to grow, I think for you to be physically healthier, this is so important. Your mind, there's a mind body connection that is so, so critical for your health and I think even for you learning more, how can you find your purpose and use that for serving others? Tim covers all of those topics here in the book. So I want to encourage you to look again. I do have a few more health questions.
Tim Tebow
I love it.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. So we can dive just a little bit more here and then we'll wrap up. So I would love for you to share. I'm going to have a few of these types of things.
Tim Tebow
Sort of an answer we got on a tangent from that.
Dr. Josh Axe
We had to talk healthy but these things are meaningful. So I'm glad we did.
Tim Tebow
I love it.
Dr. Josh Axe
What does your daily eating plan look like? Like, what does breakfast look like? What does lunch look like? Dinner, dessert? What does that look like for you?
Tim Tebow
I love it. So for many years I was on a keto ish diet, a little bit different, closer to a modified Atkins type diet which where and the reason is different is because my protein intake was higher than a lot of those on keto, but still very much ketone adapted using fat for fuel. And so I've been, you know, pretty high fat, pretty high protein, very low carbs and sugar. And I but then it's not just that then it's also trying to find those that are as clean and organic and fresh and trying to get rid of as many pesticides.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Parasites is clean and like with, you know, milk and stuff going a two.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And so many different changes that we've been learning and kind of growing and adapting to, then adding to that. It's, you know, red light therapy, infrared saunas, PEMF mats.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
IV therapy.
Dr. Josh Axe
You're all in on the functional medicine. I love it.
Tim Tebow
I totally love it. I totally believe in it. I'm a die harder and I believe so much of it.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. Same here. So walk me through, like, what does a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner look like for you?
Tim Tebow
Oh, clean eggs. And a lot of them to start very high. I probably had, like, probably eight before I came over here to see you today.
Dr. Josh Axe
And probably not Rocky style. You probably cooked it up. But I bet maybe you've done that a few times.
Tim Tebow
Yeah, unfortunately, fortunately, I have, because I. When I was young, I loved Rocky, and so I tried to do what Rocky did.
Dr. Josh Axe
That's so great.
Tim Tebow
And probably threw up a few times from that.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
But I. I love eggs. They're one of the closest things to the perfect protein for us.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
And I'm such a big, big fan of eggs. I love clean meat. I love being able to have the. The A2 dairy, you know, kefir yogurt, you know, always Greek. There's some different brands that we found that we love. Like, Painter Sisters is an awesome one that I love them. Like, I think they're Icelandic yogurt. That's awesome. I also, when we're in South Africa, they have, like, double cream yogurt. And you can, like, taste how fresh this is. And I'm like, this is so good. So I love having honey with some berries and yogurt together. I crush that.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
My favorite things, I like bulletproof coffees. We put, like, a lot of protein.
Dr. Josh Axe
Butter in there.
Tim Tebow
Butter.
Dr. Josh Axe
Okay.
Tim Tebow
Different ones that just won't affect my stomach as much. Yeah, We've done ghee many times. Sometimes when I'll be overseas and I can't. I know I'm. You know, it's just risky to eat certain foods. Depending on what country I'm in, I will have. Take a big thing of ghee, and I'll just have some coffee and mix it, and I'll take protein powder. And I've done that for. For days. I've actually done it close to a week one time without some. Majority of my food protein powder because I was just so nervous about some places we were eating.
Dr. Josh Axe
Oh, yeah. So I. My buddy Jordan, I have. My cousin's an evangelist in Pakistan and India, and they went on a trip over there, and he was super health conscious. And Jordan had Crohn's and colitis in the past. So he's very careful with what he eats. And I'm like, what did you eat over there? He's like, I didn't. He's like, I packed bentonite clay and crack. You know, crackers and protein and bars. And I pretty much ate that the whole trip because I was trying to be. Be careful so. And I know that's. That can be a challenge when traveling.
Tim Tebow
Totally. Have you found a good bar that's actually healthy for you?
Dr. Josh Axe
I mean, most of the time when I do bars, I will do bars that are like date nuts or something like that. I mean.
Tim Tebow
But.
Dr. Josh Axe
But honestly, I don't do it so.
Tim Tebow
Hard to find them that are actually healthy. It's just so much easier to have a powder. But if you have a good one, please let me know. I'd love to find a good bar to bring.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. I'm trying to think if there are. I mean, ones that are higher protein. There's one called. I want to say it's even called, like, it's not. Not. I think that's a tequila, but it's like a Mezcal or something like that. It's a little bit better. There's a brand, I think it's like, has like a Mexican name on the bar. I'll share some with you later, and then I'll share here on YouTube and for everybody to check out as well. How about supplements? What do you take for supplements?
Tim Tebow
Multivitamins. And a lot of different ones that I mix in there, too. Vitamin D, K2. Creatine. I wish I took that when I was playing sports, but I was terrified because, you know, all the myths. Oh, you're gonna.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Tear, hamstring or something. When it's just ear irritating.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
But we constantly on. On creatine. That makes a really big difference. The IVs on top of that. I really like them.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Even more. We do, like, a lot of glutathione, magnesium, vitamin C. So many different IVs.
Dr. Josh Axe
When my. When my new clinic opens up here in Nashville in January, we'll have you in. We'll get you IVs, hyperbaric, red light. All the. All the things.
Tim Tebow
The NAD.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. NAD plus. Yeah.
Tim Tebow
That's not always the most comfortable. When you get that.
Dr. Josh Axe
No. You feel a little nauseous.
Tim Tebow
What's the precursor to that?
Dr. Josh Axe
Too N. Acetyl. Oh, for nad.
Tim Tebow
Yeah, The IV of it.
Dr. Josh Axe
I'm trying to think of what.
Tim Tebow
Niagen.
Dr. Josh Axe
Oh, Niagen. Yeah. That's a brand. And you can take those orally, too. Nia Jen.
Tim Tebow
I've done that some.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah. Yeah.
Tim Tebow
Like those. Yeah, man.
Dr. Josh Axe
You're into it. You're honored. You know, first Romans or Romans one or Romans 12. One. Right. I mean, you know, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, so you're doing everything you can.
Tim Tebow
We're trying. And I want to constantly Learn. We got a cold plunge, too.
Dr. Josh Axe
Awesome. Amazing.
Tim Tebow
I love getting in and just whatever we can do to. To be a little bit more focused, a little bit healthier, run and live out this purpose a little bit more. I think that it is so important. I. I really believe, especially as believers, like, there's a higher standard of how we should take care of our bodies and not for the vanity of it, for the purpose of it.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
So that when we say, you know, when scripture tells us to run, we're not walking.
Dr. Josh Axe
Yeah.
Tim Tebow
We're not jogging. We're actually getting rid of the sin and the weight that so easily entangles us so we can run with endurance.
Dr. Josh Axe
You know, when I think about you, Tim, you know, run to win the race really comes to mind in terms of a Bible verse, because you've done this not only in your NFL career, in your football career, but also in watching you broadcast and watching how you go after, you know, victims and helping people. So I'm so grateful for you and just the amazing ministry you have and the purpose that you're living out. And I want to encourage you, everybody, to check out Tim's new book. It's called Look Again. This is really a book about look again, look at yourself again, and find your true identity, find your purpose in life. And this book is going to help fill you with giving your life more meaning and significance. It's incredibly powerful. It's in bookstores nationwide as well. Tim, thanks so much for coming on today.
Tim Tebow
Oh, my pleasure, man. Thank you so much.
Dr. Josh Axe
It's been a blessing.
Tim Tebow
Appreciate you, man.
Dr. Josh Axe
It's been a blessing. Thanks, everybody, for listening and watching. And I want to encourage you to subscribe if you're not subscribed. By the way, one of the top things you can do to support the show is subscribe and share. There are millions and millions of people that don't know the truth about living with purpose, living with identity, and many of the things that Tim has shared. So I want to encourage you to share this. And if you're watching on YouTube, what's that biggest piece of wisdom that Tim shared that you're going to walk away with and take action with today? Thanks, everybody, for watching and listening. Thank you, Tim Tebow, for coming on the show today, and we'll see you on the next episode.
The Dr. Josh Axe Show — Tim Tebow EXCLUSIVE: Health Secrets, Trafficking Crisis, & John 3:16 Miracle
Episode Date: November 3, 2025
Host: Dr. Josh Axe | Guest: Tim Tebow
In this inspiring episode, Dr. Josh Axe sits down with NFL legend, author, philanthropist, and outspoken Christian Tim Tebow. Together, they explore the foundations of true identity, living with purpose, honoring God with our bodies, and responding to the crises of our time — notably the trafficking epidemic. Tim shares his personal journey of faith, vulnerability, and resilience, offering both spiritual and practical insights for those seeking meaning, health, and impact in their lives.
[00:09–02:36; 33:10–35:23]
Game Recap: Tim recalls his playoff victory with the Denver Broncos, where his game stats (316 yards, 31.6 avg.) eerily matched John 3:16, leading to 90 million people Googling the Bible verse during the game.
Rather than feeling triumph, Tim admits his first reaction was "shame and guilt" because he recognized he’d made it all about personal achievement, not about God.
“I thought that night was about a game… and God in that moment was reminding me, no, it’s never just about a game.” — Tim Tebow [34:22]
Dr. Axe reflects on the culture’s definition of greatness versus true spiritual perspective.
[03:25–12:32; recurring theme]
Dr. Axe discusses how reading Tim’s book inspired him to seek a stronger sense of personal identity.
Tim describes how his outspoken faith was shaped by his father’s boldness and how he, too, wrestled with embarrassment and misplaced priorities.
“My greatest regrets… I was more worried about what people thought about me than what they knew about King Jesus.” — Tim Tebow [07:15]
They reflect on Tozer’s quote: “The most important thing about you is your beliefs about God,” noting that a true and humble view of God reshapes our view of ourselves.
Tim expounds on the Gospel: “What we have been saved from, who we have been saved by, what we have been saved for.” [09:45–10:55]
Memorable anecdote: Tim’s story comparing Alexander the Great (who sacrificed his soldiers for power) to Jesus, who sacrifices himself for us.
“When we have an accurate picture of who King Jesus is… it changes everything.” — Tim Tebow [12:17]
[13:04–23:31]
Both men discuss how becoming fathers deepened their sense of responsibility and compassion — not just for their own children, but for all humanity.
Tim shares the conviction that “the way we view our children is the way God views all of humanity.” [15:13]
Discussion on Mother Teresa’s stance about abortion being the “greatest destroyer of peace.” Tim shares his own story, being a “miracle baby” after his parents refused to abort him against medical advice.
“I love getting to encourage people on the value of life, on the value of humanity, that every life was created in love, by love, and for love, on purpose and for a purpose.” — Tim Tebow [19:33]
Tim’s Night to Shine event for people with special needs inspired deep reflection on what it means to be “made in the image of God” — not just functionally, but as a declaration of royal worth.
“Royalty on board… that’s right, she’s royalty. She’s royalty to God.” — Tim Tebow [20:55]
[23:31–31:47]
Using the story of builders working on a cathedral, both stress that perspective and purpose elevate everyday work into worship.
Dr. Axe highlights how spiritual, emotional, and mental health — especially tied to identity and fatherlessness — are the most significant predictors of physical health issues.
Tim reveals the intent behind his new book Look Again:
“When you understand the truth about you and the value that you have to God… how challenging it will also be, because we are mandated to love God and love people.” — Tim Tebow [28:14]
Both encourage listeners to recognize their God-given worth in order to live with confidence and purpose, referencing a study that up to 75% of people, including Christians, feel they lack clear purpose.
[35:23–41:16]
“If you do that, your life is going to be a roller coaster.” — Tim Tebow [37:16]
[43:14–49:53]
“God doesn’t often call people to major purpose while on Netflix.” — Tim Tebow [46:32]
“I constantly have to work on earning respect versus gaining likes…likes are fickle.” — Tim Tebow [52:11]
[53:55–58:47]
“We should know that every single person has a worth and a value that is priceless… because God gave his life for you and for me.” — Tim Tebow [55:13]
[60:55–66:24; 77:57–84:44]
“We’re housekeeping, house managers. When the owner shows up, did we take care of the house?” — Tim Tebow [61:23]
[66:26–75:47]
“This year there will be around 400 million people around the world that are abused or exploited…over 50 million people are trapped in human trafficking.” — Tim Tebow [67:13] “When it comes to buying live-stream rape of children, the U.S. is #1 in the world.” — [68:16]
[78:09–84:44]
Tim Tebow’s final encouragement:
“We are challenged to respond. How will we respond to those who are suffering? When you realize your worth—and their worth—how could you walk by?” [74:51]