Life Lessons from “It’s a Wonderful Life” Podcast by John Stonestreet for Break Point
Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, is such a TV staple this time of year, it feels like just another Christmas decoration. It’s like one of those things that gets put on the wall because it’s Christmastime but then hardly ever noticed again. That would be a shame, however, because there are so many great life lessons in this film. Just ask journalist Bob Welch, the author of a Fifty-Two Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life. For those keeping score at home, that’s one lesson for every week of the year.
For example, Welch points out how much this film teaches us about grace, the idea of unmerited favor. Right at the beginning 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 has just received word that his son has died.
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There’s also the scene where George and Mary are trying to leave for their honeymoon but 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. Welch notes, “George suggests that one reason to do so is that the Baileys believe in grace and Potter doesn’t.”
