By Shawn Smith
The Christian life isn’t easy. In fact, Jesus promised that in this life that His followers would face troubles.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST star Jim Caviezel reminded his audience of this truth but offered encouragement.
“If you’re close to Him, He doesn’t prevent you from suffering. His closest friends are going to suffer with Him,” Caviezel told TBN.
Caviezel recalled the time when he was filming THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and prayed for the Lord’s presence as he was portraying the crucifixion.
“I felt God’s love. It was so powerful, but I knew He wasn’t close enough. And I said, ‘You’re not close enough to me,'” the actor recalled.
According to Caviezel, the Lord answered his prayer.
Related: Why Jim Caviezel Says He ‘Never Played’ Jesus …
“So when we were on the cross together, He was completely playing the scene that was my prayer. I don’t want the people to see Jim Caviezel. I want them to see Jesus,” the 56-year-old said.
“The greatest pain I ever felt on that film, even more than the hypothermia…was all those people in the world that do not love [Him], all these children do not love Him,” he said.
From that experience playing Jesus, he felt compelled to express his love to God and to encourage others to do the same.
“And if I could tell you one thing, Our Lord loves you… just tell him you love him. If you want to talk about a personal relationship with Jesus, tell him you love him,” the SOUND OF FREEDOM star said.
“[I]f you speak from your head, and you tell your husband or your wife, you know ‘I love you’ from only from my head,” Caviezel added. “But what does it mean when you speak from your heart and you say, ‘I love you’ to [your] husband, to [your] wife and to [your] child, it means so much more. Do the same with our Lord.”
In another interview, the Washington state native told followers on the “Arroyo Grande with Raymond Arroyo” podcast to seek God for purpose.
“Don’t ask for money, don’t ask for power, don’t ask for any of that. Just ask for a purpose, and you may get those things anyway,” he said on Arroyo’s podcast.
Caviezel will return to his role as Jesus in the much-anticipated sequel to THE PASSION in THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST.
It was recently announced that the sequel will take the audience “from the fall of the angels to the death of the last apostle,” according to its director Mel Gibson, and will be released in two parts. The first part is set for release on Good Friday, March 26, 2027, and the second part will be released May 6, 2027.
Gibson has not shared much detail on the upcoming movie but said that it would be like an “acid trip.”
“When we wrote it — I’ve never read anything like it. My brother [Donal Gibson] and I and [screenwriter Randall Wallace] all sort of congregated on this, so there’s some good heads put together, but there’s some crazy stuff,” the BRAVEHEART director said.
Read Next: All the Details on Mel Gibson’s ‘Massive’ PASSION Follow-Up: ‘Very Complex Subject’
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