We can’t underestimate the influence of a grandmother. We see it in Paul’s letter to Timothy, where the apostle acknowledged how the faith of Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, impacted the young pastor’s faith (2 Timothy 1:5).

And we see a similar godly influence in the life of Oscar-winning actor, Will Smith.

Smith’s Christian faith recently surfaced after he released a Gospel song, You Can Make It, Premier Christian News reports.

In addition to acting, Smith has been performing music since the 1990s. One of his bigger hits included ‘Just the Two of Us’ released in 1998 which talks about the relationship between a father and son. The song hit number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was number five in the UK.

His latest musical release, which featured the Fridayy and Sunday Service Choir, is currently sitting at number 3 on the US’s Hot Gospel Songs chart.

Smith sang the song publicly for the first time at the Bet Awards 2024 and the video of the rap performance, released ten days ago, already has 1.5 million views and 47,000 likes.

In an interview with Billboard, Smith stated that he felt ‘compelled’ to write and produce this gospel song and suggested that he may be releasing similar songs in the future..

“I was really talking to myself. To see so many people resonate with the intention gives me a clear North Star for this next chapter of my creative life,” Smith added in the interview.

In an interview with the Christian Post (CP) in 2015, Smith acknowledged the importance of his Christian faith.

He had just starred in Concussion, where he portrayed Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born forensic pathologist who exposed the impact that concussions were having on NFL football players.

Omalu is a Christian, and his faith played an important role in his life and the film. While his medical background helped Omalu recognize the problem, it was his Christian faith that gave him the courage to expose it, when he began to receive pushback on his findings.

Smith acknowledged that his personal faith helped him portray Omalu, and he attributed that faith to his grandmother.

“My grandmother was really my connection to God,” Smith said in the CP interview.

“She was my spiritual teacher, she was that grandmother at the church, the one having the kids doing the Easter presentations and putting on the Christmas plays and her kids and grandkids had to be first,” Smith added. “She was the most spiritually certain person that I had ever met in my entire life. Even to the point that when she was dying she was happy, like she was really excited about going to heaven.”