Responding to the backlash she got, the wife of Russell Wilson shares, 'I was one that girl wanting to be loved a certain way bit was making the wrong choices. I found myself at my lowest moment.'
- Jan 22, 2018
AceShowbiz - Ciara has landed in hot water after she told single women to "level up" to find a husband. On Saturday, January 20, the "Get Up" hitmaker took to her Instagram account to share a clip from a sermon by John Gray with the quote, "Too many women want to be married but you're walking in the spirit of 'girlfriend.' "
In the caption of the post, she added the hashtag #LevelUp and wrote, "Don't Settle."
John was addressing his "single sisters" in the clip that Ciara posted. He quoted the scripture saying, " 'He that finds a wife finds a good thing.' It didn't say, 'He that finds a girl that he's attracted to, who he then begins to date, who he then calls his girlfriend, who he then buys a ring, proposes to and makes her his fiancee, who he then marries later who becomes his wife.' "
"You're not a wife when I marry you, you're a wife when I find you. You become my wife when I marry you," John added, "But a wife is not the presence of a ring, it's the presence of your character."
Many on Twitter reacted to Ciara posting the clip, and they didn't take too kindly to the advice from the wife of Russell Wilson. "Ciara's playing a dangerous game," one tweeted. "You should never, no matter how perfect your relationship/marriage appears to be, sit on a throne and tell people why they're not romantically successful. You can be the queen of the ball today and have cake in your face tomorrow!"
Some also trashed the pastor, with one user saying, "The difference between the two is a ring and a piece of paper...this speech is a hot piece of garbage." Some others, meanwhile, pointed out that before marrying the Seattle Seahawks player in 2016, Ciara had a tumultuous relationship with rapper Future, from whom she split in 2014 amid cheating rumors.
"Ciara telling women to 'Level up' and live 'like a wife' so they can b married is astounding to me," wrote another user. "Didn't you need grace, mercy & compassion when you were being dragged up and down the Internet for the Future situation? How quickly ppl forget when they reach a perch of privilege."
In response to the backlash she received, Ciara released a statement via Instagram in which she shared, "I was one that girl wanting to be loved a certain way bit was making the wrong choices. I found myself at my lowest moment. I was a single mom sitting at home."
The mother of two continued that she then "realized that the perfect love I was looking for was how God loves me, how He wants me to be loved, and who He was calling me to be as a mom and a woman. That's when I realized married or not married..." She concluded, "I needed to love myself. #LevelUp."
"So proud of you for speaking YOUR truth! It really doesn’t matter if everyone can’t receive it. Help who you can help. Some people can’t handle the truth and that’s ok, too! You have a voice and a powerful testimony. Continue to let God use you."
"Most women will never know what you're referring too until they have reach that point in their life. Beautifully said! I totally agree," another said. Others simply thanked the songstress by posting comments like "Thanks, just learned that myself" and "Thank you @ciara."
