The Heart of a True Princess

At the center of every girl’s existence lies the heart of a true princess. We all grow up wishing that we were Cinderella or Jasmine or one of the many other Disney princesses we girls watched growing up. My daughter’s favorite, I think, was Ariel from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. We all dream of the handsome prince finding us and rescuing us from the black knight or the wicked dragon who has stolen us away from our family and home to hide us in a dark cave or deep dungeon.

I have always had a desire to be Cinderella. To be heard by the “fairy godmother,” dressed in the most beautiful gown at the ball, and to be the most beautiful girl in the eyes of my “Prince Charming.” He would sweep me off my feet and carry me away in our coach to live happily ever after in a castle in the sky. I know I’m a romantic; but a hopeful one, not hopeless!

Even little boys long to be the hero, to rescue the Princess from the fierce dragon, the black knight, or maybe save her from the “Dread Pirate, Roberts.” Or they may want to be cowboys, taking cows to market and rescuing travelers on the trail to new destinations. Or maybe the mountain man, saving the village from the attack of wild animals. Men and boys all have the desire to be a savior and protector, of sorts, to the princess of their choosing.

And yet there those who always want to play the evil villain, dark knight, pirate, etc. who steals away the beautiful princess.

OK, so where is all this romanticizing going?

Let me explain. I feel the reason we girls have the desire – born within us – to be rescued by Prince Charming is more because of our desire to be reunited to the King of Kings, than our being caught up in the fairy tales that we grew up with. I know that most of us have heard the message we were each born with a God-shaped hole in our hearts that only HE can fill, and yet we are always trying to fill it with everything and everybody else.

It isn’t until we find Jesus that we can find this truth for ourselves. But instead of searching for Him, we run after the latest fad, be it the hippest rock star, movie idol or whatever your “flavor of the month” may be. Yet none of these things are truly meeting the needs of our hearts, we aren’t being fulfilled. So we turn to romance novels or the “Soaps” to live in a more “adult” fantasy than that of the fairytale princesses of our youth.

But God created us to be true princesses, to live in His kingdom forever. He put that heart of a princess into each and every one of us even before we were born. He also put the heart of a protector into each little boy. God built them to be the protectors of their families. To provide for the needs of their households; to give their very lives for them, just as Jesus gave up His life for His Bride – the church.

Jesus gave each of us the knowledge of Him and His kingdom in this simplistic way because He wanted each of us – men and women, boys and girls – to meet His Son, Jesus. To become a part of the “Bride of Christ.”

You see Jesus is THE Prince of Peace, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And we, as children of Adam are separated from Him because of original sin and because of our own sins, as well. The longing we hold deep within us to become a princess should lead us straight into His arms. Should bring us to a place of repentance, seeking to be forgiven for all the sins of our past, so that we can live with Him forever in His Heavenly Kingdom. That kingdom began 2000+ years ago when He walked the earth among men and bought Salvation by giving His life for each and every one of us by shedding His blood on the cross.

I like the way John 3: 16-21 in the KJV says it; ‘For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent NOT His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.’

What a beautiful love story this truly is! The Prince came from the Eternal Kingdom to reconcile the outcast to the King and Kingdom life by giving up His life for them. He then came back to life and betrothed Himself to those He died to save. How utterly romantic.

The Appearance of a True Princess

While we are on the subject of Princesses and our Prince, we should take a look at how the Daughter of The King should behave.

While I was speaking to God one morning in my quiet time, He reminded me of what my physical and spiritual appearance should always be … a reflection of who I am in Jesus. He also said that I have been seeing myself as a defeated daughter and not a True Princess. He showed me that I saw myself without my royal crown, in a tattered dress and robe, hair falling out of its do and covered in a cloud of dust and dirt … How very UN-princess like.

Then He showed me a glimpse of what I should look like when I am in right standing, upholding my proper position, in Him and His Kingdom. So what SHOULD a True Princess look like?

We have all seen the fairytales that have beautiful princesses dressed in royal attire etc. We have also watched the British Royals in their various celebrations all dressed “to the nines.” As a daughter of The King, we must always be aware of our appearance, our outward AND our spiritual appearance, before God and mankind. We MUST represent Him in the right way. So how best to "dress for success" in God's Kingdom?"

First of all, we need to dress in clothes that do not hide our God-given gender … Women should dress and look like women. And men should dress and look like men. As a Princess, we always want to dress to fit our station in the Kingdom. We should always wear clean clothing that looks nice on us. Whether we prefer to wear jeans and T-shirts or ball gowns, the clothes should be neat and tidy, without holes and as free of stains as possible. In the US today, men and women can wear just about anything they choose; women wear pants as often as dresses, yet they can still dress to show they are feminine no matter their choices.

As regarding our spiritual appearance, 1 Peter 3:3, NIV says; Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Peter wasn't telling us that we CAN'T wear jewelry, fancy hairdo's, makeup, etc. What he is saying that we should find our beauty inwardly and accentuate it outwardly and in modest attire.

Peter also implied that we need to protect our spiritual man by clothing it in the Holy Armor that Paul outlines in Ephesians 6:10-20: 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

In other passages, Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. It is this continuous prayer that is a part of our spiritual defense system; a part of our Holy Armor. With it, we attack spiritual battlefields by enlisting the help of God and His angelic beings.

Take a look at the prayer requests that Paul has listed here for the Ephesians to pray for him. They are the same things we should be praying for all of our Christian Brothers and Sisters; strength, wisdom, guidance, discernment, boldness and words to share the gospel with others. Be sure to also include any special or specific needs of those brothers and sisters that you know personally. Our prayers are a part of their defenses too; just as are their prayers for us.

So clothe yourselves in Christ’s mind and protect yourself with His Holy Armor and ALWAYS look like the True Princess you are!

Now, we princesses can truly belong to Prince Charming, Jesus! And so can all those princes – heroes or otherwise – we knew as children. Though some days we couldn’t tell the dark knights from the good guys. Or which young ladies were princesses and which evil witches. He always knew which of us would give our lives over to His keeping and be a part of His Bride and His Kingdom forever.

Even if you have not lived a life worthy of His Bride, He still wants you to come, repent, and start anew in His Kingdom. In fact, a wise person once told me, as long as a person draws breath, there is a chance for them to be a part of the Kingdom of God.

Not sure if you belong to the Kingdom? Are you still breathing? Want to assure your place in the Kingdom, walking beside THE Prince????

We all have to start in the same place…. at the foot of His cross…. before we can walk the streets of gold in The Kingdom of God.

Reflections:

You can write your thoughts in your journal or in the comments section below.

·        Is Jesus your ‘Prince Charming?’

·        Why or why not?

Just ask Him right now to forgive you of your sin. Repent and determine to live your life to please Him, alone. Ask Him to come live in your heart forever!

·        What do you need to change to put Him in His proper place?

·        He is waiting for you to ask Him in.  You can do so now in prayer, you can write your prayers in your journal and/or place them in the comments section below:

Dear Lord: