For as long as
I can remember the story of Beauty and the Beast has enchanted me. I can relate
with Belle’s curiosity, her longing for more than her “provincial life” and her
courage to love. Though I relate to Belle,
I think I almost relate more with the Beast. Did it ever occur to you that because
the Beast is so horrible is why Belle is so beautiful? Shouldn’t all mankind
relate to the beast’s selfishness and angry bitterness that can transform a man
into a monster? I can. If the Lord had not been so gracious with me, if Jesus
had not lavished His love upon me I would very much be a monster. A monster crippled by bitterness, isolated from the world, never to know the healing power of love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I
give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have
not love, I gain nothing.
