The truth is, I'm only half-joking when I respond calmly to alarmed exclamations of, "Why are your hands so cold?" with the now oft repeated phrase - "Because I have a cold heart." My rational side is completely fine with making this assertion, particularly because when I do, I know that my friends are acutely aware of the absolute ridiculousness of such a statement. That's the part of me that thinks it's just a funny joke. But another part of me, no matter how small, is actually tempted to believe that I am truly and unbearably unloved, in which case, it doesn't seem quite so far fetched that I would possess a frozen heart (resulting in frozen hands.) I certainly know that this sinking feeling of being unloved is unmistakably one of the cruelest of all lies, but it's still easy to believe it anyway.
So you can only imagine my surprise when I saw this lie combatted on the big screen as I recently watched Disney's Frozen. Not only did the movie address the idea of a frozen heart, but also the way one could be melted. (If you haven't seen the movie yet, this is your official spoiler alert.)
As my fellow Frozen viewers know, while attempting to get her sister, Queen Elsa, to unfreeze their kingdom, Princess Anna, our heroine, was struck in the heart by Elsa's icy magic. It doesn't take long for our unlikely hero, Kristoff, to realize that something is terribly wrong with Anna, so he brings her to his family of trolls in hopes that they can help her. It is there that Grand Pabbie troll reveals that Anna's heart has been frozen and that "Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart." Unless her heart is thawed, she will become frozen forever.
After receiving this grave news, Kristoff rides as fast as he can to bring Anna back to her fiancé, Prince Hans, because, seemingly a true love's kiss will do the trick. The problem is, Prince Hans doesn't actually love Anna; he only loves the idea of taking the throne. So once she makes it back to him, he cruelly rejects her and leaves her for dead. Thankfully, our happy snowman sidekick, Olaf, comes to the rescue, just in the nick of time. It is then that he reveals his knowledge of love: "Love is putting someone else's needs before yours. You know, like how Kristoff did when he brought you to Hans and left you forever…"
So once Anna realizes that Kristoff loves her, she and Olaf set off to find him to provide the true love's kiss. But once she's within mere feet of Kristoff, she spots Hans, who is about to kill Elsa. Anna is then forced to make the choice between saving herself and saving her sister. Like Kristoff did with her, Anna chooses her sister's life over her own. And it ends up saving her too. Though it seems like she will be frozen permanently, it turns out that her selfless act of love was the thing that could thaw her frozen heart. But that's not all. Anna's love was contagious. Her willingness to take her sister's place reminded Elsa that love was the only way to stop the winter that her fear had created. Anna's brave love saved the whole kingdom.
What a beautifully compelling and challenging conclusion! Sacrificial love is presented as the solution to a heart that's frozen. Surely this amazing story can only reflect and point back to the gospel - the most marvelous and sacrificial love story of all.
Jesus himself said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). But he didn't just say it. He lived it. He gave up His life and died on a cross, not just for His friends, but for those, who through our sin, had become His enemies. (Romans 5:6-11).
So if we have, in fact, been loved with the greatest love of all - this sacrificial love of Jesus - then it's clear that we are not in any danger of being unloved. The only real danger that we face is in not recognizing the love that's right in front of us, offered freely by our Savior. If we're not quite sure that we're truly loved, then our lives will be reduced to nothing more than a quest to make sure that we are. Such a quest is merely motivated by fear-driven slavery to our own selfishness and can only ensure that our hearts remain ice-cold.
But Jesus offers freedom! His perfect love saves us from our fear-frozen hearts. Through the transforming power of the gospel, we can be made into those, who like Him, are willing to lay down our lives for others. His sacrificial love is contagious! If we're already loved more than a thousand sonnets could ever express, then we no longer need to incessantly and selfishly search for someone who will finally make us feel loved. Instead, we can purposefully set our own interests aside in order to truly love others.
And when we do, we can be assured that we will find true life. Jesus saves us from the selfishness of our own icy hearts by calling us to give up our lives. "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35).
Then, as Jesus makes us into people who are characterized by sacrificial love, it can't help but spread! We can be part of perpetuating this contagious love of Jesus! What an amazing call and opportunity!
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
As my fellow Frozen viewers know, while attempting to get her sister, Queen Elsa, to unfreeze their kingdom, Princess Anna, our heroine, was struck in the heart by Elsa's icy magic. It doesn't take long for our unlikely hero, Kristoff, to realize that something is terribly wrong with Anna, so he brings her to his family of trolls in hopes that they can help her. It is there that Grand Pabbie troll reveals that Anna's heart has been frozen and that "Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart." Unless her heart is thawed, she will become frozen forever.
After receiving this grave news, Kristoff rides as fast as he can to bring Anna back to her fiancé, Prince Hans, because, seemingly a true love's kiss will do the trick. The problem is, Prince Hans doesn't actually love Anna; he only loves the idea of taking the throne. So once she makes it back to him, he cruelly rejects her and leaves her for dead. Thankfully, our happy snowman sidekick, Olaf, comes to the rescue, just in the nick of time. It is then that he reveals his knowledge of love: "Love is putting someone else's needs before yours. You know, like how Kristoff did when he brought you to Hans and left you forever…"
So once Anna realizes that Kristoff loves her, she and Olaf set off to find him to provide the true love's kiss. But once she's within mere feet of Kristoff, she spots Hans, who is about to kill Elsa. Anna is then forced to make the choice between saving herself and saving her sister. Like Kristoff did with her, Anna chooses her sister's life over her own. And it ends up saving her too. Though it seems like she will be frozen permanently, it turns out that her selfless act of love was the thing that could thaw her frozen heart. But that's not all. Anna's love was contagious. Her willingness to take her sister's place reminded Elsa that love was the only way to stop the winter that her fear had created. Anna's brave love saved the whole kingdom.
What a beautifully compelling and challenging conclusion! Sacrificial love is presented as the solution to a heart that's frozen. Surely this amazing story can only reflect and point back to the gospel - the most marvelous and sacrificial love story of all.
Jesus himself said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). But he didn't just say it. He lived it. He gave up His life and died on a cross, not just for His friends, but for those, who through our sin, had become His enemies. (Romans 5:6-11).
So if we have, in fact, been loved with the greatest love of all - this sacrificial love of Jesus - then it's clear that we are not in any danger of being unloved. The only real danger that we face is in not recognizing the love that's right in front of us, offered freely by our Savior. If we're not quite sure that we're truly loved, then our lives will be reduced to nothing more than a quest to make sure that we are. Such a quest is merely motivated by fear-driven slavery to our own selfishness and can only ensure that our hearts remain ice-cold.
But Jesus offers freedom! His perfect love saves us from our fear-frozen hearts. Through the transforming power of the gospel, we can be made into those, who like Him, are willing to lay down our lives for others. His sacrificial love is contagious! If we're already loved more than a thousand sonnets could ever express, then we no longer need to incessantly and selfishly search for someone who will finally make us feel loved. Instead, we can purposefully set our own interests aside in order to truly love others.
And when we do, we can be assured that we will find true life. Jesus saves us from the selfishness of our own icy hearts by calling us to give up our lives. "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35).
Then, as Jesus makes us into people who are characterized by sacrificial love, it can't help but spread! We can be part of perpetuating this contagious love of Jesus! What an amazing call and opportunity!
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
Frozen hearts can thaw because Loving Him is Red!
In what situations do you find it difficult to believe that you find your life when you lose it?
What fears keep you from loving sacrificially?
