Hailey Bieber has said that following Jesus and being part of a church community is everything to her.
The 23 year-old model, who is married to singer Justin Bieber, has spoken to Elle Magazine about married life and her Christian faith.
The couple married privately in early 2019 and then had a big celebrity-filled wedding in September 2019, including famous American pastors such as Chad Veach, Joel Houston and Carl Lentz.
They attend a Hillsong church, having both come to belief as young adults.
Mrs Bieber explained how they had dated when she was 19 and then got back together a couple of years later after a church conference: "There was a time when our lives seemed to be going in very different directions,
"I actually think, now that I look back at it being married, that it was a good thing for the two of us, very healthy."
The celebrity couple reunited a couple of years later: "We ended up being at this church conference together in Miami, and it was the first time we'd seen each other in a while. I remember we were hanging out and I was like, 'Listen, I'm really, really happy for us to be friends again. I want us to always be cool and be friends.' He was like, 'Yeah, here's the thing: We're not going to be friends.' And I was like, 'Oh. Is that so?'
"I think we were both a little unsure about what was going on in the very beginning. It was familiar territory, but when a lot of time goes by, it's like getting to know a new person."
Hailey started developing a more serious faith of her own at the age of 16, after growing up in a non-denominational church with Christian parents, including dad and actor Stephen Baldwin.
"As I got older, it got harder to follow church and the Bible because it felt very adult. I don't want to sound wrong, but it was boring. I didn't care about it anymore, until I found a church I felt was geared toward young people. And for me, that was the Hillsong Church in New York City.
"It started to feel like my own little community of people who were also young and following God and just immersed in a church community. Then I developed my own relationship to church and my own relationship with God, separate from being raised that way by my parents. That's been a cool journey for me."
She explained how being Christian influenced how they prepared for marriage, reiterating that they wanted to save sex for marriage: "Neither of us believed in doing that, but to each their own. If you live with a boyfriend or a fiancé or whatever it is, that's cool."
Speaking about the importance of Christianity to the couple, she explained: "Being able to share that with each other, to have that bond of faith and spirituality, is so [critical] for us. It's the most important part of our relationship, following Jesus together, being a part of the church community together. It's everything."
