Jelly Roll is sharing more about his Christian faith. The “Save Me” singer reveals why he is so open about what he believes.
“I’m called to be shameless about it,” Jelly Roll says on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “He’s done so much for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. I’ve actually done the opposite of being deserving of His grace. I’ve done everything I could to spit in His face, and not get His grace. And He continued to just pour it on me and love on me. At times where I felt unlovable, He taught me to love myself. My faith is nothing short of everything in my life.”
Jelly Roll has made it a point in his career to go back and perform in prisons, since he was formerly incarcerated, multiple times. It’s important to him, especially to encourage others who may feel like they have no hope.
“It goes back to my faith,” Jelly Roll says. “The Lord called us to look after the widows, to feed the hungry, to visit those in jail. This was direct from the Big Man. This was in red. This was written in red, if you read the Bible that I’m reading. I’m just trying to do what I said I was going to do, and what I was called to do. I just try to show up. Plus, I’ll be honest with you, I have been in the situation where nobody showed up for me. And if you’ve been in a place in life where nobody shows up for you, anytime you get a chance to show up for people, you show up with bells and whistles.”
Jelly Roll has a song out at radio, “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” with Brandon Lake. The two recently performed the song on American Idol, as part of the show’s three-hour Songs of Faith episode. It was Lake who reached out to Jelly Roll, and invited him to be part of the song.
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“He said to me on the phone everything I wish the church would have,” Jelly Roll tells K-Love. “The way he made me feel is like, ‘Man, if I felt this way on Sunday when I went to a couple of churches, God knows where my journey would be at right now.’ Maybe the things people are still mad at me at for not being where they think I should be, maybe I’d already be there.”
Even Jelly Roll can’t quite believe the transformation that has happened to him in recent years.
“If you knew how I was talking at interviews five years ago, and it’s all over the internet. Go look it up.” Jelly Roll says. “And then you see how I’m talking today, imagine what God can do with me in five years. And then look at what God’s already doing with me.”
Jelly Roll has a new single, “Heart of Stone,” out now. He is serving as an Artist in Residence for this season of American Idol. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at JellyRoll615.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Disney / Eric McCandless