Singer and entertainer Ciara took an L on social media on Sunday after instructing women to “level up” if they wish to get married.
The 32-year-old singer posted a clip from a Jan. 20 sermon by John Gray, along with the quote, “Too many women want to be married but you’re walking in the spirit of ‘girlfriend.'”
“#LevelUp. Don’t Settle,” she captioned the post, sharing the same clip and hashtag on Twitter.
Addressing his “single sisters,” Gray quotes 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 fiancée, 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,” Gray added, “But a wife is not the presence of a ring, it’s the presence of your character.”
Well.
Needless to say Ciara’s bit of advice didn’t go over well with fans, who took to social media to criticize her.
“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!”
This Ciara business is another reminder that Rihanna is always right.
— David Dennis Jr. (@DavidDTSS) January 21, 2018
Ciara telling women to “Level up” and live “like a wife” so they can b married is astounding to me. 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
— CiCi Adams (@CiCiAdams_) January 21, 2018
If only Ciara could get y’all to talk about her music this much lol
— Sylvia Obell (@SylviaObell) January 21, 2018
Damn.
Okay, according to US Weekly, the “Goodies” songstress has since responded to the criticism.
“I was one that girl wanting to be loved a certain way bit was making the wrong choices,” she posted on Instagram. “I found myself at my lowest moment. I was a single mom sitting at home, and then I 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 of not married… I needed to love myself. #LevelUp”
— Ciara (@ciara) January 21, 2018