LESSONS FROM “IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE”

No man is a failure who has friends. ~~ Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life“

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” 

John 15:13

I’ll bet there are few, if any, people today who have not seen the Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

It’s a heartwarming story about an ordinary man, George Bailey, from an ordinary small town, Bedford Falls, who wants to travel and do big and important things with his life.  But his big plans get thwarted at every turn.  Instead, he never leaves Bedford Falls and lives a rather mundane, predictable life, running the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan.

When a major crisis occurs, George, in deep despair, wishes he’d never been born.  Enter an angel named Clarence, who has been sent to help George in answer to many prayers.  When Clarence fulfills George’s wish to have never been born, George is given the opportunity to see what life would be like without him.  Through that experience, George comes to understand that life is precious and that even though he didn’t realize it, he had been doing big and important things all along.

I just read a good book, “52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life,” by Bob Welch.

After watching the movie many times, the author recognized that there were numerous “teachable moments” as to how to live “in the right way, appreciating what we have, understanding how precious life is, and having an attitude of living life to its fullest.”

I want to share with you a few of those “life lessons” that impacted me the most.

Our actions make a difference in the world around us.

We matter.  We make a difference, no matter how small or insignificant we think our contribution is.  Bob Welch writes, “We are the proverbial pebbles in the water, our ripples going so much further than we think.”  That’s a profound message.

There have been times when I’ve thought I don’t matter.  “What difference does it make what I do,” I thought.  “Nobody notices.”  Those are clearly times of self-pity, which run contrary to God’s will for my life.  Oswald Chambers said, “No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity because it obliterates God and puts self-interest upon the throne.”  Self-pity is pride.  The focus is on us and not on what God can do.

George Bailey was consumed with self-pity as he contemplated suicide as a solution to his problems.  He was thinking of throwing away what Clarence called “God’s greatest gift—his life.”

It wasn’t until Clarence temporarily took away his life that George could see what his life was all about.  His entire perspective changed, and George realized he always had all he wanted.  George was humbled and prayed, “I want to live again.  Please, God, let me live again.”

Prayer changes things.

The movie opens with an aerial view of Bedford Falls and the sound of many different voices praying for help for George Bailey.  As the story unfolds, we learn that Mary, George’s wife, has asked people to pray for George in response to George’s severely and uncharacteristically angry behavior toward his family.  At the same time, sitting in a bar, George himself prays, “Dear Father in Heaven, I’m not a praying man, but if you’re up there and you can hear me, show me the way.  I’m at the end of my rope.  Show me the way, God.” 

It’s these prayers that summoned Clarence to go down to Earth to help George.

God hears our prayers—the Bible assures us of that.  And often, He will dispatch angels to assist us, unbeknownst to us.  But the point is God hears us, and He answers.  His answers may not come in the way we expect or would like, but He always responds in the best ways for us.

George thought he got a punch in the jaw as an answer to his prayer, but God gave him much, much more than he asked or could even think!

The movie can inspire us to live better lives.

Bob Welch writes, “Like logs on a fire, we burn brightest when huddled together with others.”

Being in a community with others tends to bring out the best in us.  The people who are most content are the ones helping others.  Jesus says it is more blessed to give than to receive.  The side benefit of blessing others is being blessed ourselves.  It sometimes requires taking a risk, but by helping others, we help ourselves.

George Bailey gave up his aspirations to travel and do great things to stay in Bedford Falls, focusing on bettering his family, the family business, and Bedford Falls itself.  He sacrificed for higher purposes.

And a lifetime of other-oriented living doesn’t go unnoticed.  Goodness returned to George because of his goodness to others.

People don’t forget kindness, and it takes so little to be kind.

At the end of it all, George Bailey was humbled and discovered that he indeed had a wonderful life.

He had all he needed—faith, family, and friends.  At the conclusion of the movie, George’s brother, Harry, toasts him: “To my big brother, George.  The richest man in town!”  And then everyone sings, “Auld Lang Syne.”  I get a lump in my throat every time.

And I’m inspired to go out and live a wonderful life of my own!