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You don’t see this very often!
Justin Bieber encouraged his followers in virtue after revealing he began abusing drugs at 19. In this Instagram post, Bieber admits the detrimental effects of stardom, especially childhood stardom.
“I have a lot of money, clothes, cars, accolades, achievements, awards, and I was still unfulfilled,” Bieber said.
He described the effects of childhood stardom, along with his unstable and broken home life.
He added that it “took me years to bounce back from my heavy drug addiction.” He then credits God, who’s “blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me.”
“Now I am navigating the best season of my life: “MARRIAGE”!! Which is an amazing, crazy new responsibility,” he says of his marriage to Hailey Baldwin. They will again marry on Sept. 30 in a traditional Christian ceremony.
“You learn patience, trust, commitment, kindness, humility, and all things it looks like to be a good man.
“All this to say, even when the odds are against you, keep fighting. Jesus loves you. Be kind today. Be bold today. And love people today–not by your own standards, but by God’s perfect, unfailing love.”
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Here’s the full text of Bieber’s story:
“It’s hard to get out of bed in the morning with the right attitude when you are overwhelmed with your life, your past, job, responsibilities, emotions, your family, finances, your relationships.
“When it feels like there’s trouble after trouble after trouble, you start foreseeing the day through lenses of “dread” and anticipate another bad day.
“A cycle of feeling disappointment after disappointment–sometimes it can even get to the point where you don’t even want to live anymore–where you feel like it’s never going to change. I can fully sympathize with you. I could not change my mindset.
“I am fortunate to have people in my life that continue to encourage me to keep going.
“You see, I have a lot of money, clothes, cars, accolades, achievements, awards, and I was still unfulfilled. Have you noticed the statistics of child stars and the outcome of their lives?
“There is an insane pressure and responsibility put on a child whose brain, emotions, frontal lobes (decision making) aren’t developed yet.
“No rationality, defiant, rebellious–things all of us have to go through.
“But when you add the pressure of stardom, it does something to you that is quite unexplainable.
“You see, I didn’t grow up in a stable home. My parents were 18 [and] separated with no money—still young and rebellious as well.
“As my talent progressed and I became ultra-successful, it happened within a strand of two years. My whole world was flipped on its head. I went from a 13-year-old boy from a small town, to being praised left and right by the world with millions saying how much they loved me and how great I was.
“I don’t know about you, but humility comes with age.
“You hear these things enough as a young boy and you actually start believing it. Rationality comes with age, and so does your decision-making process (one of the reasons you can’t drink until you’re 21.)
“Everyone did everything for me, so I never even learned the fundamentals of responsibility. So by this point, I was 18 with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted.
“This is a very scary concept for anyone.
“By 20, I made every bad decision you could have thought of, and went from one of the most loved and adored people in the world, to the most ridiculed, judged and hated person in the world!
“Being on stage, according to studies, is a bigger dopamine rush than almost any other activity…so these massive ups and downs on their own are very hard to manage.
“You notice a lot of touring bands, and people end up having a phase of drug abuse, and I believe it’s due to not being able to manage the huge ups and downs that come with being an entertainer.
“I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships. I became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry. I became distant to everyone who loved me, and I was hiding behind a shell of a person that I had become. I felt like I could never turn it around.
“It’s taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits.
“Luckily, God blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me. Now I am navigating the best season of my life: “MARRIAGE”!! Which is an amazing, crazy new responsibility.
“You learn patience, trust, commitment, kindness, humility, and all things it looks like to be a good man.
“All this to say, even when the odds are against you, keep fighting. Jesus loves you.
“Be kind today. Be bold today and love people today–not by your own standards, but by God’s perfect, unfailing love.”
[See also: Justin Bieber Reassures Crowd of God’s Goodness in the Face of Evil at Concert]
[See also: New Avril Lavigne Video Emphasizes the Crucifix: Is She Secretly Asking Christ for Deliverance?]