Sources close to Selena Gomez have reportedly revealed that her faith in God gave her the strength to get through the ordeal of kidney failure caused by lupus.
The disclosure, by sources close to 25-year-old pop star, comes soon after she took to Instagram to reveal that she underwent a kidney transplant this summer. Selena posted to Instagram photos showing her lying in hospital bed with her friend Francia Raisa, who donated a kidney to save her life.
Fans first learned that Selena is battling lupus in 2015.
TMZ reports that sources close to Gomez said she was scared when she first learned that her kidney was failing due to lupus. However, she bravely resigned herself to God’s saving mercy. The sources said Selena prayed a lot before making the move to find a donor and get a kidney transplant.
She was placed on a kidney transplant list and eventually received a life-saving organ donation from her best friend, Raisa.
Selena Gomez’s fans already know about her Christian faith.
The bio on her Instagram account, which says “By grace through faith,” tells the story of her faith.
Gomez talked about her faith in an interview with Vogue last April. Media reports noted that she was spending less time with her Hollywood friends and more with her church friends. She was also reportedly very close to her church pastors, including Pastor Judah Smith, who leads City Church in Los Angeles, California.
“Gomez… honestly doesn’t get out much, except for long drives with her girlfriends: a realtor, a techie, some folks from church.”
Selena Gomez reveals she had a kidney transplant due to lupus https://t.co/ScX6izroBc
— eekiboo ???????????? (@eekiboo) September 14, 2017
Selena also associates with Hillsong Church. She reportedly relates closely with Hillsong’s Pastor Carl Lentz who gives her spiritual advice, according to sources.
In 2016, she surprised fans when she appeared at Hillsong Church’s Young & Free Revival Concert in Los Angeles and sang a worship song.
“I got to perform my first worship song I ever wrote. So grateful for His grace and understanding.”
Selena Gomez posts pic with “beautiful friend” who provided kidney for life-saving transplant https://t.co/HuJDywr78i pic.twitter.com/d10TXdxbqw
— billboard (@billboard) September 14, 2017
She reportedly sang the song “Nobody,” at the concert.
She once admitted that she experiences difficulty talking about religion.
“It’s hard because I don’t know if it’s necessarily that I believe in religion as much as I believe in faith and a relationship with God,” she said during an appearance on The Zach Sang Show in June.
She said that regardless of what people think about religious faith, she knows that she has relied on it to get her through some of the hardest moments in her life.
[Featured Image by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images]