"I'm impressed with her courage. Not a lot of singers would do what she did. She performed a Christian song despite knowing that it may cause some people to view it in a dim light because of ‘religious issues'. Unless it is a church concert, I seldom hear any singers sing Christian songs publicly, much less a concert." -fan on YouTube
[God Reports] Selena Gomez surprised more than a few when she took the stage of a Hillsong Young & Free concert to sing praise and worship Feb. 25th last year. (Photo Credit: Selena Gomez/ Wikimedia Commons)
It seems the baby-faced pop star has revitalized her relationship with Jesus Christ.
"I'm a Christian," the 24-year-old said unabashedly in a YouTube interview.
Selena, whose Instagram account has 117 million followers, has prepared for concerts by listening to Hillsong and by gathering with her team for prayer, as a recent Entertainment Tonight video revealed. She has voiced admiration for Brooke Fraser.
Selena was born to teenage parents in Texas and suffered emotionally as a child. She blamed her mom for her parents' separation when she was five-years-old. Without dad, the family struggled financially. They scrounged up quarters to put gas in the car and frequently fed on spaghetti from the Dollar Store.
"I was frustrated that my parents weren't together, and never saw the light at the end of the tunnel where my mom was working hard to provide a better life for me," she said, according to Wikipedia. "My mom was really strong around me. Having me at 16 had to have been a big responsibility. She gave up everything for me, had three jobs, supported me, sacrificed her life for me." (Photo Credit: Selena Gomez via God Reports)
She got her start in acting with a childhood role as Gianna on Barney and Friends. Later, she landed the starring role of Alex Russo on the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place from 2007-12. She was following in the footsteps of fellow Disney stars Miley Cyrus, Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato, who kept squeaky clean images as Disney teens only to rampage with drugs and sex when they branched out of their own.
Selena seemed to be falling into the post-Disney depravity. She cultivated a sultry songstress image and ran with the Hollywood A-listers, including BFF Taylor Swift. Song after song topped charts, and she became the girlfriend of drug-troubled Justin Bieber for a year, only to stumble through another year of on-and-off-again rumors.
But then she started suffering from lupus, with depression and anxiety compounding her malaise, and she canceled the rest of her Revival Tour in 2016 to enroll in a rehab program. She wasn't fighting drugs, she maintained. She said she just needed help to get a grip on her emotions. Selena eschewed the typical Hollywood luxury rehabs and instead chose a Christian-run facility.
"I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off," she said. "I know I am not alone by sharing this. I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues."
She re-emerged from this hiatus at the 2016 American Music Awards, where she won Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. Singing at the AMA on one occasion, she mouthed the words "Thank You, Jesus" in between lyrics…
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