The Bible Is This Actor’s ‘Manual for Living’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor Russell Brand recently shared something the Bible taught him about love and the purpose of Scripture.
In a recent X post, Brand shared 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, which reads:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
“This verse is famously used at weddings, but someone told me that a good way to use this verse is to substitute the famous, ‘love is patient, love is kind,’ with your own name to see if you are up to scratch with these qualities,” Brand said.
He reread the verses, substituting the word “love” with his name.
“Russell is patient, Russell is kind,” Brand began to read. “Russell does not envy, Russell does not boast, Russell is not proud. Russell does not dishonor others, Russell is not self-seeking, Russell is not easily angered, Russell keeps no record of wrongs. Russell does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Russell always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
“Russell has a lot of work to do,” he concluded with a laugh.
“It helps me recognize that love is something I can be a vessel for. I can be choosing that my conduct is always up to the standard,” he continued. “We live in this time in the world where people say all the time, ‘There’s no manual for living life.’ There is, and I don’t know why I assumed what was in this book without looking at it.”
I can't believe I missed THIS in the Bible pic.twitter.com/AJUobqav3u
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) August 22, 2024
Movieguide® previously reported on Brand’s faith:
“The reason I wear a cross is because Christianity and, in particular, the figure of Christ are, it seems to me, inevitably becoming more important as I become more familiar with suffering, purpose, self, and not-self,” Brand said in a post on X. “I’m reading the Bible a lot more, as I’ve told you before, [and] I’m reading Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life.’”
The actor revealed that although he grew up in a Christian household, he never found much purpose in religion.
“Christianity seemed like it was either really irrelevant and old fashioned and sort of dusty and sort of incense and Anno Domini. Or they tried to modernize it, and it seemed just like, ‘Right, okay, we’re gonna talk about Jesus.’ And, like, both of those routes seem like, ‘Oooh, I don’t know if there’s anything for me,” Brand explained.
Brand accepted Christ as his savior earlier this year, deciding to get baptized in April.
“I’ve reached a point in my life where, for a long while, in fact, I’ve known that the material world was not enough…I’ve learned as an addict in recovery [that] the pursuit of my own goals on my own agenda always leaves me cold and always leaves me empty and always leaves me wanting more,” Brand said shortly after his baptism.
“For me, this is a new discovery. It is a surrender, undertaken in gratitude and in sincerity. I know it’s not something I’ll be able to undertake perfect but for the first time in my life, I fully understand that I’m not at the center of my universe,” he added.
He’s since jumped headfirst into serving Jesus and sharing what he’s been learning about God with his millions of followers.
“You know, there are times where it’s like…‘I am not in the business of Russell Brand anymore. I am in the business of service. Serve Jesus Christ.’ And it’s such a powerful idea that I’m held alive by it,” he proclaimed in July.