Chris Pratt Praises Jesus Christ at the Teen Choice Awards

In his first public appearance since announcing his separation from his wife Anna Faris, “Jurassic World” (2015) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) actor Chris Pratt took the opportunity at the Teen Choice Awards to praise Jesus Christ.

“I would not be here with the ease and grace I have in my heart without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Pratt declared, to applause.

Pratt did not walk the red carpet at the Teen Choice Awards, but he took the stage Saturday to accept the Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actor prize for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”

In addition to boldly declaring his faith, Pratt made a quip about his start in Hollywood. “When I came to Los Angeles, I came from Hawaii and I had all of this blonde hair and I was tan and I met an agent because I really wanted to be an actor and get an agent. And he said, ‘Wow. Bro, you must surf?’ And I said ‘Yeah,’ and that was the first of many lies I told to get where I am today,” Pratt declared.

Pratt announced his separation from his wife of eight years, Anna Faris, on Facebook earlier this month. “Anna and I are sad to announce we are legally separating,” the star and his wife jointly declared on Pratt’s Facebook page. “We tried hard for a long time, and we’re really disappointed. Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we want to keep this situation as private as possible moving forward.”

Pratt and Faris insisted that they “still have love for each other, will always cherish our time together and continue to have the deepest respect for one another.”

The situation behind their separation should remain private. It is important to note, however, that the two announced separation, not divorce.

The Bible treats divorce as something to be avoided as much as possible. Jesus set forth an extremely high standard on the issue: “I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9). He quoted Genesis many times, noting that “a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Jesus emphasized that “they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:5-6).

Pratt has spoken publicly about his faith many times, most recently in January of this year, when he shared the story of his conversion to Christianity in an interview with Vanity Fair. In 2014, Pratt told People magazine that he and his wife prayed for a miracle when his son, Jack, was born nine weeks premature in August 2012. “We were scared for a long time,” Pratt said about the month his first-born spent in an intensive care unit. “We prayed a lot.”

Doctors said Jack would almost certainly be disabled, but the boy turned out t be completely healthy. Pratt consider this a miracle.

“It restored my faith in God, not that it needed to be restored, but it really redefined it,” the actor told People in 2014. Is such a miracle possible for Pratt’s relationship with Faris?

While Pratt’s separation from Faris may be tragic, it was inspiring for the actor to declare his faith in Jesus in the midst of this difficult time.

Watch Pratt’s acceptance speech below.