Quick, let’s play a game!

I say a word or phrase and you say the first thing that comes to your mind.
 

Let it go, let it go…

Did you say “Frozen”?
Ding, ding, ding – correct!

Do you wanna build a snowman?…

Did you say “Frozen”?
Ding, ding, ding – you win again!

Olaff.

“Frozen”?
Yip, you got it! You’re so smart.

Anna & Elsa?

 
Did you guess “Frozen” again?
Wait, this is too easy.

Jesus.

What? You didn’t say “Frozen” –
Brrrrrppp. Gotcha.

Okay, I admit ~ that was a set up.
Oh, you were onto me?
Ok, fine.
Let it go… let it go…

It was Christmas Eve 2013. 

We’d only taken our kids to see maybe two or three movies in the theater ever. This was one of them.
I bawled.

I still can’t listen to “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman” without crying. If you were a fly on the wall of my house you’d hear my daughters skip past that track, saying, “Don’t play that one, it makes Mom cry.” It’s true, the child in me is provoked by this song and grieves over my own broken sisterhood.
Maybe you feel a bit that way too.

Then there’s Elsa…

She’s been given a particular kind of power.
Her power is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how she uses it.
The fear that accompanies this power overwhelms Elsa and causes her to isolate and withdraw. This fear suffocates her creativity, steals her joy, and eventually hardens her heart.

…let it go… let it go… 

(you can hear it coming, can’t you?)

Confession: 

When perfectly put-together Elsa stomps her foot, lets down her hair, and bursts forth in the final chorus of “Let It Go” something happens inside me. I want to throw open my french doors, stomp my feet out onto my 2nd-story deck and join in the anthem:

… the past is in the past…

 Let it go!…

and I’ll rise like the break of dawn…

Let it go!…

…that perfect girl is gone… 

and here I stand in the light of day… 

let the storm rage on…

Is anyone with me?
Come on, be honest, I won’t tell.

Or maybe your not so introspective and overly analytical. Maybe your favorite Frozen lines came from Olaf:

“Some people are worth melting for.”

Or

“Do me a favor, grab my butt.”

 

Regardless.
This movie is layered with complex emotions, plenty of humor, brilliant one-liners, and I’d even go so far as to say that the gospel was woven in there somewhere.

How so?
Glad you asked.

There’s an interaction that takes place between Kristoff and Grand Pabbie after Anna’s heart was struck by Elsa’s freezing power. Anna has collapsed and is surely dying, so Kristoff brings her to Grand Pabbie for help.
Grand Pabbie takes her hand and says,

Anna, your life is in danger. There is
ice in your heart, put there by your sister. If not removed, to solid
ice will you freeze, forever.

  Kristoff fearfully interjects,
 

But you can remove it, right?
 
And Grand Pabbie responds,

I cannot. I’m sorry, Kristoff. 

If it was her head that would be easy, but only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.
 

If it was her head that would be easy… but only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.

That’s the gospel folks.

We’re all dying.
We all have pain somewhere.
We’ve all been struck by someone else’s power and left wounded.
We’ve all been trapped by fear.
We’ve all retreated to isolation.

We all want to scream to the world, “Just leave me alone!”
And deep down inside, we all want to walk in the freedom of Let. It. Go.

Our deepest problems in life – they’re not in our head, they’re in our heart.
Our deepest pain isn’t in our head, it’s in our heart.

And there’s only one way to thaw a frozen heart.
An act of True Love.

Enter: Jesus.

No, Jesus wasn’t in the movie Frozen. I realize that.

Anna was the sacrificial lamb in this movie. The savior. The act of true love. 

She stepped in and took the sword that was meant to kill Elsa.

In the real world outside of Disney (is there such thing?), Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. 

The real Savior. The real act of True Love. 

He stepped in and took the punishment that was meant for you and me.

While Elsa was still an enemy towards Anna, Anna died for her.
While we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:10)

Anna didn’t stay dead. Neither did Jesus.
Elsa didn’t stay cursed and plagued by fear.
No, she was freed!

Freed to live again.
Freed to dance again.
Freed to play again.
Freed to build a snowman again!
Freed to use her power for good and not for evil!

Best of all…
She was free to LOVE!

Because perfect love casts out fear.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are
afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not
fully experienced his perfect love.
1 John 4:18

Have you experienced the true love of Jesus?
I’m not asking if you know about Jesus, as a doctrine or theological belief. 

Remember, the problem isn’t your head.

Have you experienced Jesus? 

Has your frozen heart been thawed by His love? 

If so, then let us rejoice!
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Romans 5:11

Rejoice because YOU have been freed from the curse of sin and death!

YOU are free from fear of punishment!

YOU are free to use your power for good and not evil.

Embrace YOUR blood-bought freedom to live, laugh, play, celebrate, work, and build.

Now, YOU, be free and love others the way Christ has loved you…

Sacrificially.
Selflessly.
Supernaturally.
Stubbornly.

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13
If you have not experienced this kind of love and are curious to understand more about the gospel of Jesus Christ I’m here for you. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.