There’s a lot of controversy lately over faith. Or maybe it’s always been there and I just never noticed. Or maybe it’s because one of the voices of my generation has finally decided to speak up and not be afraid to express the faith that he has in God.

 

Justin Bieber has many tattoos, I remember when I was 10 or 11 when TigerBeat and BOP released a picture of his first tattoo. No one really understood the meaning, or I probably just didn’t understand.

As the years went on and on and he got older he began getting more and more tattoos. For the longest time my favorite was a bible verse of Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” This quote spoke to me, I loved it and I adored it.

Except I never really told anyone about how strongly I believe in God and his plans for me. Similarly to what I believe that Justin was going through in the past years. It’s this feeling of wanting everyone to accept you for who you are. And not realizing that the only acceptance you really need is up from above.

 

At TD Garden on May 10th, during one of his performances Justin laid down in the middle of the stage. He asked if people set alarms in the morning and the answer was a bunch of screams all in unison (the language of fangirls) and he asked if people pressed snooze 10 times a morning. The same reply ensued. But, then he talked about how there was a time when it was so difficult to get out of bed, how he didn’t see a purpose of leaving it. This may have been a time when God was there but Justin wasn’t sure that He was.

 

This happens to all of us, when you don’t know why there is so much misery and then you truly begin to question God and you really truly begin to wonder if He is even there with you. I believe that this has happened to everyone at one point or another.

This is why I believe so strongly in Justin Bieber. Because he is human. This is why I would stick up for him when people would make fun of me when he was stumbling on his own path of life, because haven’t we all been on that same path before?

 

In Life Is Worth Living, one of his songs off of his album Purpose, he says,

“The meaning of forgiveness

People make mistakes

Only God can judge me

Life is worth living again”

 

But isn’t this true? Why do we as people have the authority to judge someone for their mistakes when we are doing the same exact thing? Ours is just not as broadcasted to the world as others.

 

After Justin’s first performance there was a lot of controversy due to his shirt that stated “Bigger Than Satan” and I never really understood the meaning, in fact, I kind of hated it.

But while Justin was performing between the screaming and dancing something in me clicked. His shirt isn’t really bringing attention to Satan, it’s about God. That God is bigger than Satan. That the good is bigger and better than the bad. It means that even though the appeal of the evil in the world may seem better at times, God gives us purpose and He is the right choice.

I think what made this experience better than the Believe Tour is that Justin was still trying to find himself four years ago. But, Purpose World Tour, he knew what he was doing and who he was doing it for:

“I put my heart into your hands
Here’s my soul to keep
I let you in with all that I can
You’re not hard to reach
And you bless me with the best gift
That I’ve ever known
You give me purpose
Yeah, you’ve given me purpose”

 

During basketball season I watched a part of the interview that GQ had with Justin Bieber where he talked about his tattoos. He gave either a back story or the meaning behind, not all but a few, of the tattoos that he has. And on his left arm he has a tattoo that says LL. I’ve never noticed or seen or even cared about this tattoo because it was mushed in with all the other ones, but when he explained the meaning I decided that this was going to be my new philosophy in life. LL means when your head is low, lift it up. So, during basketball season one of my teammates and friends was struggling. So I decided to give her encouragement, maybe even a laugh. So after practice I began talking to her and I said, “So, Justin Bieber has this tattoo right? And it’s actually pretty cool. It’s LL and it stands for low, lift. Which means when your head is low, lift it up.”

I don’t know how she felt afterwards and if this helped her enough but I think everyone should live by these words.

When your head is low, lift it up to God or if not to God lift it up for yourself. and lift it up and hold it high because that’s what He would want you to do.

And on that note:

 

Stay Swaggy my beliebers.

Erin Tudryn