John has a good life. He has parents who love him and a brother who looks up to him. He has a beautiful wife and big dreams of being a writer one day.
But John just can’t get past the choices he made as a teenager, when one day, his friend Dave had insisted that the two go to a high school party. Things began to take a turn for the worse. John’s parents begin setting a strict curfew and come down hard on him when he can’t recount the Sunday School lesson. He feels frustrated and smothered deciding to bury his feelings in cocaine.
Although he and his sweetheart Kayla married several years later, he has kept his addiction a secret from her. Eventually, Kayla discovers what he’s been hiding all these years and leaves. John spirals further into his drug use, providing steady business to his friend and drug dealer, Dave.
John’s drug use costs him his wife, his job and nearly his life. His co-worker George had reached out to him multiple times, but John wasn’t ready to respond. Until he was.
George explains over a burger that he, too, struggled with drugs and destructive behavior. He shares with John that he eventually found a Christian-run rehab center where he learned about how much God loves him and he encourages John to check it out.
As the story comes to a close, John realizes he needs to make a change. He decides to go to the rehab center where he finds accountability, acceptance and support. He also finds Jesus Christ and accepts Him as his personal Savior. He regains the trust of his wife and family through the guidance of a counselor at the center.
John discovers that even though his biological mother was raped, he had been chosen and loved by the people he called mom and dad and that God loved him through it all. As a result of his sobriety, he became a motivational speaker and author. He leads his wife to the Lord and even visits his old friend Dave in prison to show him that he still wants to be his friend, and that God has a plan for him too.
The Dove Take:
A Life Worth Living is a poignant story about John Gesler, a man who struggles with drug addiction, identity and finding a purpose for this life. He eventually realizes that the only place he can find what he’s truly looking for is in Jesus Christ.
Due to frequent scenes involving drug use and brief references to rape, abortion and domestic violence, this film is Dove-approved for 18 years and older.
