- Content: Kel Mitchell Uses His Past to Bring Hope to the Next Generation
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor Kel Mitchell strayed from God growing up, but now that he has returned to his faith, he uses his experience to help younger generations understand that true life can only be found in Christ.
“I grew up in the church. My grandfather was a pastor,” Mitchell told Christian Huff. “There’s a big difference between, you know, knowing Christ and having a relationship with Christ. So I went through a lot in my life as far as like, you know, adulting within the public eye. And, you know, learning and making mistakes along the way as, you know, teenagers and young adults do.”
“It was just a situation where I kept going through so many different things in my life. I was in– the enemy, what he does is he attacks us so much through manipulation, through emotions, through frustration, and I would let that just really take me over,” he continued. “To the point where it was just like, oh man, I’m so frustrated. I don’t know who to even talk to. And literally I was getting the enemy saying, ‘Hey, take yourself out of here. You don’t even need to be here,’ you know what I mean. Just, ‘take yourself out of here, you don’t need it.’”
“In my times of going through depression, suicidal thoughts, all these different things, and working on shows at the same time, God was there,” he told TODAY.
“It’s crazy because so many people deal with that. So many people deal with some things they’re going through that other people don’t know about… But that’s when I figured out where it was just like, okay, I need to have God be the head of my life in everything that I do, in every part of my life,” Mitchell added.
Though it was intense, Mitchell knows that this part of his testimony makes him who he is today.
“God brought me through it and He was always there for me so for me not to, like, extend a hand and help others with what they’re going though of the stuff that I dealt with ten years ago, five years ago, twenty years ago, thirty years ago; that’s what we’re supposed to do,” he said.
Because of this calling from God, Mitchell now works as a youth pastor, helping shepherd the next generation toward the Lord. He also brings Christ into the entertainment industry, encouraging child actors that they have an identity outside of their roles.
“The beauty in it is that when I started to learn how to navigate [those thoughts] through my faith, because, you know, having anxiety, having stress, having fear from all of it but being able to say, ‘Okay, my faith is the antidote to all this mess.’ I know what I mean when I figured that out, and [because] I figured that out, I was able to now, as a producer, tell young actors this situation so they’re not going into it [alone],” Mitchell explained.
The actor also shares his faith on social media, frequently posting short messages to encourage his followers.
“Obedience unlocks understanding,” he said in a recent Instagram video. “My purpose in life is to make God smile. He created me to do a certain thing here on earth, so I’m going to do it. I’m going to be obedient to him because I know it’s for my good. I might not know the why…but I’m going to do it because I’m being obedient to God.”
Mitchell hopes his messages remind his students that despite what they are being told on social media, they are special because they are children of God.
“I’m a living testimony of if you really stick with it and you stay with Christ and you stay righteous while you’re doing what you’re doing, because I gave it up too, then now, you know, you can get through it,” he said. “Look at what’s happening in my life. You can still have the same swag and still, you know, [have] the ability to be yourself.
“It’s not like because you’re doing this righteousness, now you’re just this, you know, cornball or something like that, you know what I mean. Bring who you are. Who God made you, you know, to the table,” Mitchell continued.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Actor Kel Mitchell recently took to Instagram to encourage his followers to look to God for direction.
“Happy Sunday,” he began a recent Reel. “When you express your concerns to the Lord, he will show you the way to go.”
“It’s just like the three wise men, right? They had a journey that they needed to go on, alright, they wanted to see Jesus, right? So, God shined a star in the east for them to follow and directed them straight to him. So, if [there is] anything that you’re going through, and you need direction, and you need a plan, and you need to know where to go, don’t spend one minute without God,” Mitchell encouraged.
- Content: +3Share:
- Content: +4