Your Life Is Wonderful, Too! by Gail K. Kachnycz on 9 December 2025
I hope you were able to view "It's A Wonderful Life" during the holidays.
What scenes resonated with you? Did you worry that George might not get the message and lose Mary to another man? Were you frustrated by Uncle Billy? Did you want to punch Mr. Potter in the nose? The ending is unexpected, a reminder that God's answers to prayer are creative and out of the box.
Over the years, I have come to appreciate this film more and more. It touches on deep themes in a creative way: How do our decisions and actions affect others? What is important to us: career or family, fame or faithful service? There is quite a bit of artistic license when it comes to portraying angels, but the prayers that introduce the opening scene are heartfelt petitions rather than rote repetitions. I find it remarkable that this movie was made in Hollywood, rather than by a Christian production company. Here are a few lessons that I see in the film.
Like George Bailey, caregivers may feel that what we do is not important, or that opportunities pass us by. When Mike was on hospice, I remember feeling like George Bailey on the bridge--that circumstances and finances were going out of control. At those times, we need the prayers that Mary Bailey asked for: urgent requests for God's help made with strong faith. Sometimes, we need others to uphold us when we are feeling weak and drained. It is exactly that fatigue that may prevent us from asking for the very thing we need. I urge you to set up circles of prayer support in advance, so that even when you are desperate, a simple text or message to your prayer partners will initiate prayer support for you. The link below will take you to the post from 2023 on setting up Prayer Circles.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the story for me, is that George Bailey's attitude changed before people donated the money needed for the bank audit. Even though his circumstances had not changed, and he was still facing prison for bank fraud, he was grateful for his life. He recognized that the people in his life were precious: his wife and children, his brother, his neighbors. He realized that his community was changed for the better because of his actions, although they seemed mundane. In the role as George's guardian Clarence says, "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends," and "Strange, isn't it? each man's life touches so many other lives. And when he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" Your life matters. Your life impacts others. Your life is wonderful, too.
In the end, the kindness and integrity that George had shown over the years is returned to him literally "a thousand fold"-- eight thousand, to be exact. It always kind of irked me that Mr. Potter got away with hiding and essentially stealing the bank deposit money. But, he was thwarted in his attempt to destroy George's reputation and life. That must have tormented Mr. Potter no end.
In simple terms, the lesson is this: Prayers are powerful. Prayers can change things, but before they do, prayers change us.
As the New Year begins, I leave you with a blessing from the movie, when George and Mary open a new home for one of the people who saved at the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan:
"Bread...that this house may never know hunger. Salt...that life may always have flavor. And wine...that joy and prosperity may reign forever."
I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:35
He waters the hills from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart. Psalm 104: 13-15 NKJV
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