Most people are familiar with the story of Cinderella. She is the unfortunate step-daughter of an uncaring woman. She wears dirty raggedy old clothes because that is what she has been given. Her stepmother uses this as a tactic to try and dictate to, as well as define who she is. Cinderella is told that she is unworthy of attending the grand ball hosted by the king, especially since she doesn’t even have a new fancy gown to wear in the presence of royalty.
Cinderella has a glimmer of an idea and makes a new dress for herself which her stepmother & stepsisters quickly rip to shreds. Just when she finds herself utterly hopeless, her fairy Godmother shows up and provides for her, not only a fancy ball gown but everything she really needed to go to the party.
Now imagine for a moment that Cinderella decides that she doesn’t need to take off her old dress after all. She chooses to reject the gifts she has been given and do it on her own. She decides to keep wearing her own old rags and goes to the palace and seeks entrance. Do you suppose that she is going to be successful? More than likely she will be turned away. Therefore, it would be silly to think that she wouldn’t use the gifts she was given. You see what Cinderella really needed, as most of us women do, was the courage to accept the free gifts of grace which had been extended to her, and she did.
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”(Ephesians 4:7 NASB)
Similar to Cinderella’s fairy Godmother, Christ gives us everything we need to live a spirit filled life when we come to Him. But often we doubt that such wonderful gifts can be bestowed upon us because the enemy, like the evil stepmother, does everything he can to try to convince us that we are unworthy and that our identity will always be wrapped up in who we were before. Unfortunately, many of us are craftily deceived by his attempts and choose to try to do define our identity in our own strength. Some of us continue to wear the old rags because they are familiar. The thought of having everything we need just given to us is difficult for us to comprehend. How can we be worthy of such grace, such forgiveness, such love? So we buy into the thought that we don’t need a new identity to be successful if we just try a little harder. We hold God at arms length and make self sufficiency our best friend.
However, in Ephesians Paul tells us we must remove those old clothes, that former identity and put on what Christ has provided for us:
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV)
When Cinderella accepted the gifts offered to her, it made it possible for her to enter into the presence of her prince. Likewise, when we decidedly receive the grace presented to us, we enter into the presence of our Lord, the King of King’s, and we become beautifully transformed new creations. And if there ever comes a day when we find ourselves living without those gifts, we just need to remember that God pursues us to even a greater degree than Cinderella’s prince pursued her. We just need to sit again at His feet and purposefully accept all He desires to give to us.
Please know that Christ thought you were so valuable that you were worth dying for. Every good and perfect gift is available to you but you must choose to accept them and allow Him to transform your life through them.
If you need prayer or have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me.
