Danica McKellar, who is known for playing Kevin Arnold’s love interest, Winnie Cooper, on “The Wonder Years,” recently shared on Instagram that she has a relationship with Jesus. McKellar’s spiritual journey, which is brand new, is bringing her a sense of joy, freedom and love that she has never experienced before.
“Hey everyone!” said McKellar in the caption of an Instagram Live video posted Sunday, April 24. “I went live today to share the journey I’ve recently embarked on…🙏 I’m not here to preach, but I have so much love in my heart I just had to share what I’m experiencing, and to share a little why I believe it’s taken me up to this point to begin this journey.”
Danica McKellar: ‘It Feels So Free and Joyful’
Danica McKellar is an author, mathematician and actress. In addition to appearing alongside Fred Savage in “The Wonder Years,” McKellar has appeared in “The West Wing,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
McKellar told her followers that she is on a spiritual journey, one that was only two weeks old at the time she filmed the video. McKellar was clear she is still learning and that there is much about the Christian faith that she does not know yet. But she is sharing publicly because the process is “filling my heart with so much love, and it’s hard to hold that kind of stuff in.” McKellar said the journey “feels different from anything I’ve ever experienced before.”
“I have been going to church and been finding a lot of amazing love and peace and purpose, and it’s blowing my mind,” said McKellar, explaining that fellow actress Candace Cameron Bure, a good friend of hers, had given her a Bible and invited her to church. Going to church is a significant step for McKellar because for a long time she had a lot of negative, preconceived notions, which prevented her from exploring Christianity.
When she used to think of Christianity, said McKellar, she associated it with how “it has been misused in the world,” such as to start wars or to give people power or a sense of self-righteousness. “But I’ve been discovering the pure part of it, that part that’s actually the core of it,” she said.
McKellar also used to think that Christianity was about following rules, and she did not like that idea because she thought she would not have much freedom. However, she has found the opposite to be true and is experiencing “love and joy and freedom” through her relationship with God.
Now McKellar knows that Christianity is about the heart and that obedience comes out of people’s relationship with God. “It feels so free and joyful,” she said, adding, “This feeling of absolute joy and freedom, what’s so amazing about it is that it’s actually available to everyone.” All people have to do to have this joy is decide to follow Jesus, said McKellar, noting that people do not even have to live perfect lives for God to accept them.
Throughout the video, McKellar was clear that she is not an authority on Christianity, but is merely sharing her experience. When someone told her that the Holy Spirit is in her heart, she said, “Thank you. That’s another question that I have: What is the Holy Spirit? I guess I haven’t read enough of the Bible to really understand.”
McKellar said she knew that God is the creator and Jesus is God’s Son, who is our example of how to live and have a relationship with God. “Is there some female energy in there?” she asked. “I’m still figuring it out.”