The Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, 85, has long been a rare openly Christian star in Hollywood. In a new interview, Voight is opening up about how his strong relationship with God impacts everything that he does both personally and professionally.
Voight Is ‘Afraid Of Offending God’
“I’m always very attentive to every behavior I have and I’m always scared that I might offend God,” Voight explained. “You know they say, ‘Fear of the Lord?’ That’s what I got. So you look at me and say, ‘He’s a guy who’s afraid of the Lord, I’ll tell you that.'”
However, Voight was quick to add that this fear is not a bad thing. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
“But it’s not an unpleasant–that fear is just respect, you know. I feel so badly if I’m not being properly respectful to the truth and to good and all of that,” he continued. “But I know that I would be forgiven because I’m making a tremendous effort,” he reiterates. “God looks down on me and says, ‘That’s a guy who’s trying.'”
In a 2021 interview with Fox News, Voight revealed exactly why he is “afraid of offending God.”
“Because God is everything. God is love,” he explained. “God is all these beautiful things, beauty, everything. And how can I live up to that? I need a lot of help. I think that is the fear of the Lord. It keeps you on track.”
“It’s a fear of not living up to … a fear of doing the wrong thing, making a terrible mistake,” he concluded. “So all of that, but I’ve been a happier fella. It may not look like it, but I’m happy.”
Voight’s Encounter With God
In this same interview, Voight revealed how an encounter that he had with God set him on this religious path.
“I was in a lot of trouble at one point. I had some problems and I was really suffering for many reasons,” he recalled. “My career was in flux at that time and lots of things were going on at the time. My relationship to my kids and my wife.”
“I was on the floor, I found myself on the floor saying, ‘It’s so difficult. It’s so difficult’… I said it out loud,” he continued. “And I heard in my ear, ‘It’s supposed to be difficult.'”
Voight went on to describe what he heard as “a voice of wisdom, kindness, clarity … it has so much resonance, this voice.”
Indeed, he believes that it was the voice of God.
Related: Jon Voight Weighs In On Will Smith’s Actions Toward Chris Rock At Oscars
‘God Is Real’
“At that time I knew what it meant. I’m not alone. Everything is known … I am known. That’s what it meant to me. I felt this tremendous energy,” he said. “Somebody’s rooting for me. It’s like, don’t give up. There’s a purpose here. You’ve got a ways to go son. And I felt great.”
This experience inspired Voight to “straighten out” his life.
“God is real, He knows us and is on our side,” he concluded. “If I’m going to be a vessel for God, I better be cleaner than I was … I’ve got to be a righteous fellow.”
God bless Voight for using his platform as an A-list star to spread the word of the Lord. If only we had more stars in Hollywood like Jon Voight!
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