Justin Bieber slams bad Christian examples, says learning character of Jesus helped him turn from sin
Popstar Justin Bieber released his first album in years on Valentine’s Day and sat down for an intimate one-on-one interview with Apple Music where he talked extensively about his faith in Jesus and how much he’s grown as a believer.
"I just didn't know what the heck was going on and so I really took a deep dive in my faith, to be honest, I just went deep,” Bieber told Apple Muisc’s Zane Lowe about the bad place he found himself in 2017 that resulted in him canceling his world tour.
After a string of mishaps from 2013 to 2017, Bieber changed his life all together and held on to his Christian faith while working on his mental and physical health.
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Before making the transformation, however, he admitted he “believed in Jesus” but was not living the life of a follower.
“I never really ... When it says, following Jesus, it’s actually turning away from sin,” Bieber explained. "What it talks about in the Bible, there's no faith without obedience. I had had faith about like, 'I believe Jesus died on the cross for me, but I never really implemented it into my life.' I never like, 'I'm gonna be obedient.'”
Bieber is now a married man who has walked away from a life of sin, such as fornication and drugs. During his sabbatical, he took time to take care of himself and in the process strengthened his own understanding of “who Jesus really was."
"I had really bad examples of Christians in my life. Who would say one thing and do another, so they were there my direct example of who Jesus was. I didn't take it as seriously because I didn't have good examples,” Bieber said of his childhood faith and the shame that came to him every time he failed.
The “Intentions” singer took time off to reflect on God and his faith. "I just really looked at the character of who Jesus really was,” Bieber reiterated.
"So now the way I look at my relationship with God and with Jesus is, I'm not trying to earn God's love by doing good things. God has already loved me for who I am, before I did anything to earn and deserve it,” the Canadian born singer explained. “It's a free gift by accepting Jesus and just giving your life to Him, and what He did is the gift. The forgiveness is the thing that we look at and say, 'I'm going to worship You, God, because you gave me something so good.'”
The 25 year old, married Hailey Baldwin, 22, in September 2018 at a courthouse in New York. The couple held their Christian wedding ceremony in October of last year that was attended by many of their pastor friends. In the Apple Music interview, Bieber said the Christian examples he now has in his life are what helped him leave his life of self-destruction.
"It was dark, really dark,” Bieber said of his past life, “So I'm very grateful to have influences in my life that have played a huge part in me seeing their relationship with Jesus, and their relationship with their wives and their relationship with their kids and saying, 'that's what I want, and I’m striving after that.'”
Bieber, who recently released his new album, Changes said while he is not pushing his belief on anyone, he hopes his testimony can help others realize they too can change.
The artist also launched a new docuseries called "Justin Bieber: Seasons” this year which airs on Mondays and Wednesdays on YouTube and features several of the people in Bieber’s life, including his wife, Hailey, and manager Scooter Braun.
