It’s No Fairy Tale

It’s No Fairy Tale

Now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

Romans 8:1-3

It was first published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm in their Children’s and Household Tales, though it has even older origins than that. Today it’s better known as “Rapunzel,” and it has been told and retold again and again, recently by Disney in the animated film Tangled, which claimed to be “taking adventure to new lengths.”

The fairy tale “Rapunzel” is the story of a beautiful young girl, imprisoned in a tower by an old witch who insistently tells her she is ugly. One day when Rapunzel gazes from the window in her tower, she sees a handsome prince standing below. He is enchanted by her beauty and tells her to let her long golden tresses down from the window. The prince then braids her hair into a ladder and climbs up to rescue her.

The implicit message of this fairy tale is simple but profound. Rapunzel’s prison is really not the tower but her fear that she is ugly and unlovable. The mirroring eyes of her prince, however, tell her that she is loved, and thus she is set free from the tyranny of her own imagined worthlessness.

We are all, in a sense, like Rapunzel, enslaved by the fear of rejection, yearning to be valued by someone special. But in our counseling office we have seen enough couples to know that some spouses are especially troubled by the fear of being unlovable. They are afraid they are not loved because they feel unlovable, and this fear directly affects their marriages.

The grace of being loved and accepted unconditionally is incomprehensible, and we all fall short of deserving this kind of perfect love. But we must still accept the gracious gift of God’s eternal love. There is “no condemnation” for those of us in Christ Jesus. And when we accept this love, we are freed to love one another as we should.

Think about this crucial dynamic today. Do you accept God’s unconditional love for you?

He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented.

—Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm