During a recent performance in Brooklyn, NY, singer/songwriter Justin Bieber gave all the glory to God, telling fans that while he is the one on the stage, he is "nothing without a light shining through."
Over the weekend, the 22-year-old singer shared a photo from his "Purpose" tour with his 67.1 million Instagram followers, in which he appears on a well-lit stage.
"I am so lucky to share these moments with you, I am so glad God is able to move even when people are blind to it," Bieber captioned the photo.
"I am the one on that stage but I am nothing without a light shining through," he added. "I'm such an average, ordinary person that doesn't deserve the praise. I believe it belongs to my God! Thank you God for showing up when we need you the most!"
The "Sorry" singer is publicly declaring his faith in more ways than one: he recently debuted a tiny cross tattoo near his right eye.
"Yes, I did tattoo a small cross near the corner of Justin's eye," tattoo artist Jonathan "JonBoy" Valena told E! News. "It was a representation of his faith in Jesus and his journey with finding purpose in God."
Bieber has over 50 other tattoos, many of them symbol of his Christian faith, including a large cross on his chest, and images of Jesus and hands in prayer on his left leg. He has angel wings on the back of his neck and a verse taken from the Bible on his right shoulder, notes CBC.
The singer, who was famously baptized by Hillsong Church pastor Carl Lentz in 2014, has previously warned against idolizing celebrities, arguing that God alone is worthy of such praise.
"I would really suggest to people, 'Don't put your faith in me,'" he told The Mirror back in February, "Because I'm gonna disappoint you every time. Yeah. It's scary. But I want them to know that I'm not going to be able to solve their problems... I'm not that higher power. I'll never be. I'm not perfect. I've made so many mistakes. I just want to get to a place where... I just want people to know humans aren't meant to be worshiped. We're just not. So when a human is being worshiped, this is dangerous. 'Cause it does nothing but give you pride."
In an earlier interview with GQ Magazine, Bieber said his newfound faith is what keeps him humble, and said that without it, he would be a "terrible" person. "I feel like that's why I have a relationship with Him, because I need it. I suck by myself," he said. "If I was doing this on my own, I would constantly be doing things that are, I mean, I still am doing things that are stupid, but... It just gives me some sort of hope and something to grasp onto, and a feeling of security, and a feeling of being wanted, and a feeling of being desired, and I feel like we can only get so much of that from a human."
