It’s Still a Wonderful Life

Authors: John Stonestreet and Andrew Carico 

80 years ago, a down and out man, George Bailey, discovered that, really, It’s a Wonderful Life. The redemption of Jimmy Stewart’s character took place on Christmas Eve of 1945, the same night that Clarence got his wings. The amazing film, a Christmas classic, is particularly meaningful for men bearing the weight of providing for their families. It’s also quite Christian, if not explicitly so. 

As Anne Morse wrote in her book, It’s a Wonderful Life Advent Devotional: 

Watching It’s a Wonderful Life last Christmas, it struck me, not for the first time, that director Frank Capra, who came from a large and loving Catholic family, had managed to sneak a boatload of biblical teachings into this, his greatest film. 

For example, an important theme developed in the film is the idea of unmerited favor, or what the Bible calls grace. At the start of the film, the addicted druggist Mr. Gower slaps a young George Bailey on the ear so hard that it starts bleeding. George chooses to forgive him, realizing that Mr. Gower just received word that his son had died. 

In a later scene, George and Mary try to leave for their honeymoon but, on their way out of town, witness a run on the Building and Loan. Old man Potter offers 50 cents on the dollar to customers to move their business. Many are tempted to take him up on it, but George pleads with the townspeople to keep their money at the Bailey Building and Loan. According to Bob Welch, author of 52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life, “... the Baileys believe in grace and Potter doesn’t.” 

“Here, Ed,” George says to one of his neighbors. “You remember last year when things weren’t going so well, and you couldn’t make your payments? You didn’t lose your house, did you? Do you think Potter would have let you keep it?” 

Of course not. Old man Potter didn’t do “grace.” 

And, of course, there is the scene when George Bailey begins to believe that all is lost and begins to think he is better dead than alive. It begins with $8,000, lost by Uncle Billy on Christmas Eve. Though George grabs Uncle Billy and shouts at him, in the end, he extends grace. Forced to ask Mr. Potter for help, George takes the blame, saying that he is the one who misplaced the money. 

Still, it is George’s wife, Mary Bailey, who especially excels at offering grace. When George comes home from work on Christmas Eve, yells at his wife and kids, insults his daughter Zuzu’s teacher over the phone, and trashes the living room, Mary has every right to be furious. But instead, she forgives George, tells the children to pray for their daddy, and goes around town asking people for help. 

Grace, says Welch,  

. . . is the foundation of the Christian faith. Jesus’ granting us grace by forgiving  our sins flies in the face of virtually every other religion, which operate on a you- get-what-you-deserve basis. But Jesus says, in essence, you don’t get what you  deserve. You get what you don’t deserve. 

The willingness to offer grace and accept grace and, in the end, live by grace is what makes Bedford Falls a much better place to live than Potterville. 

There are other wonderful lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life. We are reminded to count our blessings, that true riches are not about money but about family and friends, and that we can make a difference because, as Clarence reminds George, every person’s life touches so many others. 

Our cars and homes and stores look nothing like what filled Bedford Falls, but It’s a Wonderful Life speaks truth about who we are and what life is all about. Critics and cynics may dismiss the film as too nostalgic and whitewashed, but it’s a beautiful reminder that, in the midst of life’s darkness, grace endures.