Reality TV Star Wants to Base ‘My Life Upon the Bible’ — Here’s Why

Published: September 27, 2024

Reality TV Star Wants to Base ‘My Life Upon the Bible’ — Here’s Why

By Movieguide® Contributor

19 KIDS AND COUNTING star Jinger Duggar Vuolo is sharing how she overcame the false biblical teachings that ruled her life when she was younger.

“My parents always told us about Jesus and that salvation is a free gift of God,” she said during an episode of TAKEAWAYS WITH KIRK CAMERON. “It’s a beautiful thing to have that for life, and sadly, we had this other teaching coming in from the side that was kind of confusing, so we would have good character that you could learn from this program, and then at the same time, the further in you got, you realized, ‘Hmm, this is not all based in the Bible.’”

Vuolo explained that there were “elements of truth mixed with error” in what she was taught, adding, “We all are under [the] authority of God, but there was a twisted authority of what this teacher would say.”

These things included being told that, as a woman, it was a sin for her to work outside the home or move out of her parents’ house before she was married.

“It’s harmful teaching…to say that’s the teaching of God,” Vuolo said.

This mindset left Vuolo feeling like “God as always out to get me for something — maybe something I maybe didn’t know I was doing wrong, something that wasn’t in the word of God, but maybe this teacher said I should be doing or not doing.”

“I looked at God as almost like a taskmaster,” she continued. “I wanted to please God…I think I was so scared because I had been gripped with fear, thinking, ‘I’ve got to figure out what God wants from me,’ so I would follow more of these man-made rules…I thought ‘These principles are going to guarantee me favor with God.’ But that only gripped me with more of a burden on myself.”

Vuolo said that eventually, “the Lord in His kindness did lead me out of that, but it took so many years.”

“The Lord opened my eyes to see that these teachings were not based in the Bible, and it was really freeing for me because I started to see more of the character and nature of God, and the Lord used Jeremy [Vuolo, her husband] in that. I just saw his commitment and love for Jesus, but it wasn’t based on all of these rules and standards.”

Vuolo concluded, “I want to base my life upon the Bible and I love Jesus, so I want to do what His word says. God is a loving heavenly father who’s not just waiting to smite you if you step outside a box for something you didn’t know you did…looking to God’s word and believing it and trusting in the finished work of Christ is what’s going to bring that freedom.”

She has previously spoken about how she overcame these teachings and found a deeper faith.

“I thought it was all true, all these teachings from this man I had followed,” she said in an interview with ABC News. “It was a teacher that I grew up thinking was teaching me the Bible. And I thought that his words were the words of God. It wasn’t until I got older, I stopped and started to examine his teachings. He’s definitely a — false prophet, false teacher.”

Vuolo discussed the situation in further detail in her 2023 book, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear.

“I am just so grateful every day for just the freedom that I’ve found,” she told PEOPLE in an interview about the book’s publication. “I think the freedom being one that I’ve said over and over, though, but it really is not this freedom from I’m going to throw off all of my religion in my relationship with Jesus. But I still hold that as what is most important to me, and that’s what I value the most.”

Movieguide® previously reported on Vuolo’s faith:

Jinger Duggar Vuolo became a reality TV star for her appearances in TLC’s 19 KIDS AND COUNTING and COUNTING ON, but recently revealed the dangers and reality of fame.

“I think a lot of people do look into fame, and they think it’s all beautiful, it’s all wonderful, and yes, as I’m saying, there are tons of perks, but then, you also have to wrestle through a lot,” Jinger said on the “Dinner Party with Jeremy Fall” podcast, according to PEOPLE. “They can think, ‘Oh, you don’t wrestle with anything, you don’t struggle with being depressed one day,’ you know? Or, like, your day hasn’t gone as you want, and how do you get through that?

“We do all feel these things. We have times where we’re walking through very challenging deep, dark times and other people may not know about it or they may not understand that that’s something that’s common to all of us as humans,” she said.

However, Jinger and her husband Jeremy are outspoken about how they turn to their faith in God.