Princess Diaries IRL

 

Prison is not much fun.  But from time to time the staff would show DVDs on the TVs in the pod.  We had a rule, that whatever movie was on, we put it on, no matter what it was.  One day they showed "The Princess Diaries" with Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews.  It was amusing to see a bunch of hardened outlaws watching "The Princess Diaries."   If it were up to me, I probably would have watched something else, but I decided to go ahead and watch it and enjoy some mindless entertainment.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Anne Hathaway plays Mia Thermopolis, a rather plain and unpopular teenage girl who discovers that she is, in fact, a princess of a rather small, lesser-known kingdom in Europe, Genovia.  Her previously unknown grandmother, the queen of Genovia appears and tells her she is the heir apparent and must step into her role and responsibilities as a princess.  It is an interesting reprise of the classic Cinderella story.  The key difference being that while Cinderella was a commoner who became a princess, Mia was always a princess.  She was born a princess, but she did not know it and was raised to believe she was commoner.  She had been perfectly content going through her life thinking that she was just a normal teenager with little or no social standing.  Mia was living a lie, a lie that even she did not realize she was living.  The largest challenge her grandmother has is to convince Mia that she is indeed a princess and is worthy of the crown.  Like most teenagers, Mia is plagued with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy.  She is given the choice, to step into her true identity as a princess, or go back to being a basic teenager again. 

There is something strikingly true in this story.  Not true in a practical or scientific way, but in a way that we feel in our souls.  It is a fable of sorts, or a myth, that taps into fundamental truths that we all know to be true.  Just as much as Mia was born into royalty, but did not realize it, all of us are born to be royalty as well.  We are all destined to be children of God.  We are meant to wear a crown and sit on a throne.  We are children of the One True King and are destined for eternal glory.

In the New Testament Ephesians 1:4-6 says this, "Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." 

This is one of those verses that falls on the heart like a load of bricks.  Think about it.  Before God said one word of creation, He looked down the long corridors of time and saw us.  He saw the moment we were conceived and the moment we were born.  He watched us grow, learn, and become the people we are today.  From eternity past He sees us now and is choosing us to be a part of His eternal family.  But He does not force this on anyone, if we do not want to be a child of God that is up to us.  We have the choice to embrace His Son, Jesus Christ or to push Him away.  If we put our faith in Him, we will be born again and become members of His royal family.  This was part of His plan from eternity past that we would be raised from commoners to royalty, that we would be exalted from spiritual poverty to eternal riches in Christ.  What a glorious thought!  We have been chosen and adopted to be part of Christ's eternal, glorious inheritance!

Ephesians 2:6 goes further, "And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

God has a throne waiting for us in heaven right next to the Son of God.  This is mind blowing!  When we trust in Christ this is the position that we are given.  We may not feel it, we may not understand it, but still, our position is a glorious one!  A king is still a king even if he lives in the slum.  A queen is no less royal if she lives in rundown apartment.  How we feel does not change this timeless truth, if we are believers in Christ, we are seated with him in heavenly places.

As marvelous as these verses are, we struggle to embrace this spiritual reality.  We cannot see it and understand it.  Why would we feel like royalty when every day we wake up in a dingy apartment, on the street, or in a prison?  We compare ourselves to others, we are not as smart, wealthy, talented or good looking as others.  They might be royalty, but we certainly are not.  We do not wear nice clothes, drive nice cars or live in nice houses.

Even if we consider our actions, we seldom behave like royalty.  We are plagued with insecurities, bad habits and compulsions.  We disappoint ourselves and others all the time.  We say and do the wrong thing and feel like idiots.  Royalty are supposed to always know the right thing to do and do it, right? 

I have been a sex addict for many years and is the reason I ended up in prison, where I am now.  In the throes of the addiction, I felt far from royal.  I felt like scum, I felt worthless, inadequate, and unworthy.  If somebody offered me a crown, I would be the first to say that I did not deserve it.  But I have come to learn that these are lies woven into my mind by Satan and my addicted mind.  The truth is that in spite of my failures, I have been chosen to be a child of the One True King.  

Christ does not give us a crown and throne because we deserve it, He gives it to us because He is a God of mercy, grace, and love.  And through that grace we are made worthy.  We are transformed from commoner to royal, from shame to glory.  Christ takes our worthlessness and makes us worthy.  He takes our sin and gives us righteousness.  He takes our addictions and gives us new life.  The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes it this way, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

This is not a crown that we have to earn.  In fact, there is no way we can earn it!  It is a crown that is given to us, bestowed upon us through the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Christ died on the Cross because He believed that we were worth it.  He believed that we are worthy of love, redemption, and glory.  Christ paid the ultimate price so that we can be adopted into His family. 

Although we may live in a ghetto, or in my case, a prison, still our home is in Heaven.  We are princes and princesses of an invisible, eternal kingdom and the time will come when we will pass into that perfect, eternal reality, but for now we must persevere in this dark world, looking forward to the glorious day when we will forever reign with Christ.

"The Princess Diaries" ends with Mia transcendent, dressed in her royal regalia and seated on a throne, her rightful place in the world.  Our rightful place is adorned in the righteousness of God and dwelling in His eternal Kingdom.  God sees the royal blood in our veins, and He wants to reveal it to the world.  It is up to us to let Him do it.

[All Scripture quotes are from the ESV]