How Forgiveness Transformed Tyler Perry’s Life
By Movieguide® Contributor
Producer, actor and writer Tyler Perry reflected on the importance of forgiveness and the power that came from pursuing the passions God gave him.
Perry had a troubled childhood. He grew up in a home marred by abuse and lived in an area that kept people in cycles of poverty, drug usage and violence. Growing up, Perry “didn’t think [he] was going to make it to 30 because everyone he knew was in jail or had died.”
Yet, Perry had hope because “in the midst of it, [he] had a mother who taught [him] about Jesus. Who taught [him] about faith. Who taught [him] about God. Who wouldn’t let [him] give up on it.”
As Perry got older, he started to work on forgiving his father. He understood that to break the cycle of poverty and abuse, he would need to forgive his father for the events of his childhood.
The actor’s journey to forgiveness began with prayer, working through the hurt in his heart and softening his perspective on his father.
Perry also tried to understand where his father came from.
“One day I sat down and asked him, ‘What happened to you?’ And he said something that blew my mind, that he couldn’t answer it.”
Perry came to realize that “he had been sent out on the journey of life with a suitcase full of no tools to raise a child, no tools to be a husband; it’s like going on a business trip with an empty suitcase and you’ve got nothing that you need to make it through the night. Once [Perry] understood that, [he] was able give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him to not just be the man who raised [him], but to be a human being.”
Perry explained that when he finally understood his father, he prayed, “Okay God, what he did is still wrong, but I am able to forgive him because of his background and his history.”
Choosing to forgive changed Perry’s life.
Until then, his hatred for his father fueled his actions and decisions.
After he forgave, though, Perry turned to God for motivation by seeking his plan for his life.
“For me, I go by what’s burning inside me; what’s on my heart, what’s on my soul,” Perry explained. “I feel like we all have a candle that we’re given to carry…and that light is your destiny. That light is the thing that is going to lead you to your path…So I always wanted to ask in alignment to what that light was.”
For Perry, that light was to make it big in entertainment. Although it took him decades, he is thankful for the journey that brought him there, adding that if God had given him success immediately, he would have been too overwhelmed to do anything with it.
As he reflected on his childhood and the trials he faced, Perry can now see God’s goodness through them.
“I am a living witness that everything works together for your good. I have watched it, I have seen it from the tragedies and horrors with my father, if I didn’t have that I wouldn’t have had a sensitivity to be able to listen and hear and understand, I wouldn’t have had an imagination that became so active because I was trying to escape the pain and poverty, to be able to write,” he said.
“Every moment in my life has worked together for my good and as I sit here now, I completely understand that,” he added.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Director, writer and actor Tyler Perry was moved to prayer, tears and thanksgiving on his commute this week.
Perry was driving to work when he saw signs for Tyler Perry Studios, but the physical signs meant something spiritual for the star.
“Atlanta has truly been the promised land for me. I came here with nothing, lived off Sylvan Road, ended up homeless and starving, but I was always praying and believing. I was always keeping the faith, knowing that if I worked hard, did my absolute best, kept my integrity, honored every blessing, and remained grateful through it all that everything would work out. And, it has, thank God,” Perry wrote.
