Believe it or not, I just finished watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ for the first time.
If you’re looking for a Christmas movie that will remind you what the holidays are really about, this is the movie you’re looking for.
About 30 minutes later my mom said, “This isn’t really a Christmas movie.”
At that point in the movie I agreed. There were no elves, lights or Christmas trees.
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The film “It’s a Wonderful Life” was produced and directed by Frank Capra. Seen here, James Stewart as George Bailey who contemplates suicide. Premiered December 20, 1946; theatrical release on January 7, 1947. Screen capture. Paramount Photos. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
Don’t get me wrong, I, the guy who wears a different crazy Christmas shirt every day in December, love that kind of thing and always will! But this movie has a deeper meaning, and if my mother hadn’t fallen asleep shortly afterwards, I’m sure she would have agreed.
George Bailey’s story is about gratitude for God’s blessings and learning to trust Him, especially when life doesn’t go the way you think it should.
Mankind’s shaky faith in God during the many trials of the Old Testament revealed the need for what God had long promised: Jesus coming from heaven to the manger we see in our Christmas shows—to die for our sins, restore our relationship with God, and renew our faith in His greater plan.
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The film shows how powerful that kind of trust can be.
George was intelligent and ambitious, he dreamed of traveling the world, building great things and escaping his small town. That life never came. Instead, duty kept him at home: He took over his family’s modest community bank after his father’s death, put the needs of others before his own, and watched friends make his dreams come true.
Yet George and his cheerful wife Mary embraced the life they were given. They laughed a lot, raised their children to pray, treated everyone with love and respect, and were deeply grateful for the home and family God had provided.
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But the real test came when missing $8,000 from the bank brought George unwanted attention from a bank inspector, a journalist and even the police. Desperate, he even considered taking his own life. At that moment he turned to God.
“Dear Father in Heaven, I am not a praying man, but if you are up there and can hear me, show me the way,” he said. “I’m at the end of my rope.”
American actors James Stewart (1908-1997), as George Bailey, and Karolyn Grimes as his daughter Zuzu, in a scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life”, directed by Frank Capra, 1946. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
What followed is the film’s core lesson.
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God didn’t just give George a solution. Instead, He showed him a world George was never born into: a darker, colder place where the people he had quietly helped were lost and broken; his wife was alone and his children never existed.
George realized that his life mattered more than he realized and that whether or not he could solve his financial problems, he already had everything he really needed.
When he returned to reality, he embraced his family and home with overflowing gratitude, entrusting the outcome of this little personal battle to God.
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Yet George and his cheerful wife Mary embraced the life they were given. They laughed a lot, raised their children to pray, treated everyone with love and respect, and were deeply grateful for the home and family God had provided.
Then – and only then – came the final gift: the community he had served poured out its love and support to save the bank.
“Ask and it will be given to you” does not mean that we will receive everything we think we need. It means that God listens and ultimately provides what is truly needed to fulfill His plans for us—often only after we first learn to trust Him.
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Hardships will still come – layoffs, illness, loss – but it can be part of God’s greater mission, much of which is beyond human understanding. Like Job in the Old Testament, who endured unimaginable suffering without explanation but was ultimately restored after more fully entrusting himself to God, George had his own moment of surrender. Only then did he realize how richly blessed he already was. Only then did he realize how richly blessed he already was.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” was produced and directed by Frank Capra. Seen here: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carl Switzer. (Everett)
So maybe my mother was right. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is not a Christmas movie in the modern, sentimental sense. It’s something bigger.
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If you haven’t planned to yet, I highly recommend checking it out again this year.
I know I’ll be watching every December.
