IT REALLY IS A WONDERFUL LIFE

It’s that time of year that comes with some wonderful cinema favorites!  I don’t know about you and your family but we have several Christmas movies we like to watch…

The Christmas Story
Miracle on 34th Street
Elf
Charlie Brown Christmas
Frosty The Snowman
White Christmas
A Christmas Carol

We love all of these listed above, but my all time favorite Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life” – in my opinion it just doesn’t get any better than that movie.  And it’s not just because of some of the great lines…


“You look like the kind of angel I’d get”

“Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people”

“I’ve been saving this money for a divorce if I ever got a husband”

CLARENCE: No, we don’t use money in heaven
GEORGE: Well, it comes in real handy down here, bud!

Yes, the lines are great, but more importantly is the message it sends.  We don’t often see characters like George Bailey anymore.  Those types of selfless people truly are becoming a thing of fiction.  Fortunately, I have not only known people like this, I am lucky to STILL know other selfless people, but they are becoming a rarity.  

It seems to me we live in an age where messages like “you’ve got to do what makes you happy” or “you’ve got to take care of yourself first” tend to win out over “think of others before yourself.”   We are all busy and we are all tired, and yet despite that, there are still people who push through to take care beyond what sometimes seems humanly possible.  And this new thought of “take care of yourself first” – how did that become so popular?  When was the last time you were drawn to a selfish person?  I can firmly say for me, never. 

I have to thank my small-town-farming upbringing regularly.  Though many may mock small town ideals or traditions, small town folks know what it means to take care of each other.  When one of us is down, we all feel down.  I grew up with grandparents who showed me what it meant to take care of others all the time, because that was just something that you did.  My parents too, always seemed to be taking in people or helping them through a rough patch.  It wasn’t something anybody did to become known, but because it was the right thing to do.

As a kid in Sunday school, I remember my teachers visiting this verse quite bit…

Mark 12:30-31
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment great than these.”

Now whether you believe in the Bible or not, I think the last part of verse 31 points something out about human nature.  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Why should we love others as we love ourselves?  I’ll tell you…it’s because Jesus knew people were going look out for number 1 way before they looked out for anyone else.  Therefore saying we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves is very clear. 

I know I am blessed beyond measure and I would bet most reading this are as well.  No, I don’t live in a Beverly Hill mansion or make a million dollars a year, but those things aren’t an accurate measure of blessing.  Yes, I have problems and things that cause me grief, but who doesn’t?  I am still blessed with the ability to give and serve.  I have friends and family who love me.  I have healthy kids, a nice warm home, food on the table, a little money in my pocket and the ability to help when needed.  I truly have a wonderful life and if I sat down to write all the blessings in my life, I would be busy for quite some time.  There are so many reasons to be thankful and to give to others.  I would challenge you this Christmas to think a little more like George Bailey this year – are you rich in blessings?  Then you are as rich as ever.

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