By Movieguide® Staff
For Kathie Lee Gifford, her relationship with God has been one of the most important constants throughout her life.
“I’ve always been incredibly grateful that I came to a personal relationship with Jesus early in my life and didn’t have a whole lot of religious baggage with me,” she told the “Jesus Calling” podcast. “He met me right where my desires and my dreams were, and He said, ‘Kathie, I love you, and if you follow Me, I will make something beautiful out of your life. I will make something beautiful.’ I believed Him, and I went running down that aisle to give my life, officially, to Jesus. But my heart, He already had my heart long before that.”
Gifford explained that this “surrender” to God is what gives us the “amazing gift of grace, of salvation,” but added, “What we don’t study enough in the West is the gift of sanctification that comes afterwards. That’s the hard part.”
Related: Why Kathie Lee Gifford Calls Herself ‘Anti-Religion’
“When the Holy Spirit renews our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus, that’s the hard part. That’s when it’s a surrender every single day,” she said.
Gifford explained that, for her, this sanctification manifests in her career choices; for example, she “would never take a role that required anything that dishonored the Lord. The Lord gives us a conscience for a reason.”
“I have tried to be a faithful follower of Jesus, but I have failed. I have failed many times. I’ll fail today in one way or another. I’ll be angry at somebody that’s not driving fast enough, or I will be short with somebody, or I will be irritable. I will fail,” she concluded. “I’m not perfect, and one day I will be. One day we all will be perfect, and that’s when we’re with our Savior, who was perfection Himself.”
Gifford frequently shares her faith publicly. In a recent interview with Fox News, she said, “I didn’t want to be famous, but God made me famous because I think He knew that I would be faithful to Him, faithful to tell the truth about Him, to be bold in my faith in Jesus.”
In another recent interview with Woman’s World, she shared, “Every morning when I wake up and I have a pulse, that means God still has a purpose for me. I thank the Lord that I’m awake and I usually say, ‘Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I put my trust in you. Show me the way that I should go.’ It’s an attitude of gratitude and it’s true. I’ve so much to be grateful for.”
Gifford’s words about the importance of faith in her life are an inspiration to sanctify our hearts and pursue a strong relationship with God.
Read Next: Kathie Lee Gifford Didn’t Want to Be Famous, But God Had Other Plans
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