Justin and Hailey Bieber sit down for marriage counselling with Pastor Judah Smith

Justin and Hailey Bieber with Pastor Judah Smith (l)

Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey are being supported in their marriage by the pop star's close friend Pastor Judah Smith.

The three were seen in Bieber's new YouTube documentary, 'Next Chapter', sitting down at their family home for a marriage counselling session. 

Smith, who pastors Churchome in Washington state, had some candid advice for the pair that marriage can be hard, and he suggested it may be even harder for them because of their fame. 

"Marriage is just difficult in general, and what's added in your relationship is obviously the pressure of the perception of people that actually don't know the details and want to know the details, and so they project on you," he said. 

Smith advised the pair not to be discouraged if they have fights because sometimes it is the way to bring out the truth. 

"A good fight is good for a marriage," he said, adding, "I think you guys fight fair and you fight well." 

And he encouraged them to take a long-term view and keep going no matter what. 

"There are aspects of two years that you're still going to deal with in 21 years," he said.

"I hope that's not discouraging. But it's that dance and the music changes without knowing and the only goal is just to keep dancing."

Bieber, 26, has been using the last few years to work on himself and his marriage to Hailey, 23. 

The couple had a church wedding last year and both got baptized by Smith in a lake over the summer. 

Bieber had a world tour planned for this year but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. 

He said in the documentary that he was disappointed but is trusting God with this season of his life.

"I love using what I'm good at to make other people smile, make other people happy. But you just gotta release that control to God, trust that His plan is better than our plan," he said. 

"I either was going to sit around and mope about it and be depressed, or use that time to say, 'You know what? This is not the plan, but I can work on this in my life. Let me work on my relationship with my wife."