TODAY Show’s Savannah Guthrie: ‘I Love Talking About God’s Love’
By Movieguide® Staff
Co-anchor of NBC’s TODAY Show Savannah Guthrie is unashamed of her relationship with Jesus and teaches her children to rely on God’s Word.
“I think sometimes people are surprised that my faith means so much to me,” Guthrie answered during an interview with Guidepost writer Celeste McCauley. “But I think that’s less and less true because I’ve talked about it publicly a bunch. If I’m asked, I talk about it.”
She added: “I love talking about my faith. I love talking about God’s love. I love talking about how we all struggle and are on this journey together.”
Guthrie’s heart for God started at a young age after her cousin encouraged her to memorize Psalm 23, a verse that sticks with Guthrie to this day.
“Psalm 23 lives in me,” Guthrie said. “My cousin gave me this verse when I was a little girl and told me to memorize it. I have recited it to myself thousands of times and reflected on it morning, noon and night. And lately it’s a verse from Zephaniah: ‘The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.’”
Guthrie, who shares two children with her husband Michael Feldman, said she wants to raise her daughter and son with the Truth found in the Bible.
“My daughter is six and a half with a phenomenal memory. I told her, ‘I think this is your verse, and I think you can memorize it.’ I love the verse because it’s a moment in which you allow yourself to just soak in and remain in God’s love,” Guthrie said. “That’s so powerful. When you feel beloved and delighted in and rejoiced over, how can you do anything but go out into the world and spread that around? It’s the kind of verse that’s deeply fulfilling and nurturing and nourishing, but it also has an amazing and immediate effect in the world around you.”
The 49-year-old host said that her mother inspired her to live with integrity.
“My mom… has this inner nobility and integrity. She’s just so rock-solid. When your mom is so strong and seemingly certain, it is a great comfort as a child,” Guthrie said. “I’m not going to say I never rebelled or that maybe there weren’t times I wished she were a little more warm and fuzzy. But she is selfless and full of integrity and has been my inspiration and my north star. And she still is.”
Guthrie also revealed that she prays and sings hymns to maintain and cultivate her love for God.
“I’m always praying in some sense, always in a conversation with God,” Guthrie said. “Lately it’s in the back of the car on the way to work. I pray at night before I fall asleep.”
During law school, which Guthrie said was the most challenging point in her career, she continued to rely on prayer.
“At a different time in my life, I would wake up early, sit in my dad’s old green leather chair, have my coffee with my Bible and my journal and spend a few moments in reflection and prayer. I don’t have that anymore because I get up so early. I’m not getting up one minute earlier! But I need to find moments that are very intentional to do that. God is good and finds me where I am,” Guthrie said.
“What you do for your spiritual well-being I listen to hymns. I’ve made a playlist of old hymns that I grew up with, including ‘How Great Thou Art’ and ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness.’ And my church, Good Shepherd in New York, has a group of musicians from across the country doing music on Spotify,” Guthrie said, adding: “I’m a big believer that God speaks our language. He comes to us in a way that is unique to us that we understand; for me, music is a language. In a distracting world, it’s sometimes as simple as putting on your headphones and listening to a hymn you love. I think God is very generous and uses whatever we are able to offer in terms of our time and attention. He meets us right where we are.”