“You know what’s crazy?” said Jelly Roll. “I don’t want to get super spiritual out the gate, but I will because I think God wants me to right now because [of] you saying that.”
“There’s a Scripture in the Bible that says in Christ all things are a new creation, which I thought was interesting because it didn’t talk about restoring the old,” Jelly Roll noted. “It says that in God we are a completely new creation. You know what I mean?”
“I was looking at it at first like I’m restoring my heart. But then when you’re saying that, I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t restore my heart. I got a whole new heart,’” he said. “This is a brand new heart, Joe. You know what I mean? It might be cloaked as the old one, but God touched it. It’s a whole new heart, baby. It’s a different heart.”
Rogan and Jelly Roll spent quite a bit of time discussing Jelly Roll’s weight-loss journey, how he has navigated addiction and improved his mental outlook, and his interest in bowhunting. One point Jelly Roll made was on the importance of healthy friendships and community to support healthy habits.
“You can’t heal in the environment that hurt you. I started praying for new friends five years ago, like on my knees to God directly, like, ‘God, I’ve done everything I can for every friend I brought with me along the way,'” he said. “‘Everybody who came with me can’t go with me. Everybody’s not growing at the rate I’m growing, right? I need new friends.’”
“When I was cheating on my wife, I was hanging around people that were cheating on their wives,” said Jelly Roll. “When I was drinking tons of alcohol and doing tons of cocaine, I was hanging around people that was doing tons of alcohol and tons of cocaine.”
“So, I’m like…I want to change,” Jelly Roll said. “Send me some friends. Send me, just, send me some new interests.” Then, such friends started coming into his life.
Later, Jelly Roll revealed that, because of his past, he is not allowed to own or operate a firearm. When Rogan wanted to know if that would be the case “forever,” Jelly Roll said that he is up for pardon from the Tennessee governor this December.
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However, even if the governor pardons him, the country artist will not be fully exonerated because Tennessee has a zero-forgiveness policy for violent offenders. The artist implied he would be interested in pursuing legislation that would allow him to use a gun to hunt because bowhunting has done a lot for his physical and mental health.
“Look, I understand if you’ve ever raped somebody or killed somebody,” said Jelly Roll, “but I think…there should be some path to redemption. Even if it takes 30 years.”
“I think it’s important for people to have a path to redemption,” Jelly Roll continued. “I’m a redemption guy and, you know, if God didn’t just show me so many paths, you know what I mean? Then…”
“Well, I think it’s one of the more beautiful aspects of Christianity, that it does offer you a path to redemption,” Rogan interjected, “like a true, legitimate path where you can become a different person.”
