One thing I love about God is that you can literally find him anywhere. And considering that I have a seven-year-old sister, one of those places happens to be the movie Frozen. Whether or not the writers intended to do this, I am astounded at how much the Gospel is embedded in the movie. I will specifically be following the character of Elsa, and I hope you can relate!

1. The “Guilty Good Girl": At the beginning of the movie, young Elsa discovers that she has the ability to produce ice and accidentally injures her younger sister Anna. Even though they mean well, her parents unfortunately impose strict regulations on Elsa and isolate her from her sister, telling her things like, “Conceal, don't feel," to help her cope. Does that sound like your childhood? If you grew up in a Christian home, were you raised to be afraid of God, and told that if you failed to obey the seemingly impossible regulations you were in danger of going to hell? And on top of that, did people model that if you talked to people who didn't believe in Jesus you would get slimed or polluted by them? Or if you don't consider yourself religious, is this your perception of most Christians? If that is true, I want you to know that this mindset is not what God intends for his children, because in many cases it produces people like Elsa – constantly afraid, plagued with guilt, and primed to rebel. If you feel like this, please understand that you are loved and can be free!
2. Becoming a Rebel: Years later, when Elsa is being crowned queen at her coronation ceremony, you see her trying really hard not to lose control of her ice powers in front of the crowd. With fear written all over her face, she repeats, “Conceal, don't feel" as she tries to hold everything in. Unfortunately, in an emotional flare-up at her sister she unleashes it all in front of everyone and they all discover her ability. Ashamed, she rushes up a mountain by herself and loses all desire to exercise self-control. Likewise, so many people are constantly afraid of failure, and even when they try with all their might to do well, it's simply not enough. They mess up and then feel so ashamed and so weary of the constant rules that they just completely stop trying. I heard a story from a military veteran recently, and he knew a Marine who was the kind of Christian to wave the Bible in everyone's face. He lacked love but also had insecurity in his ability to please God. Eventually, he got so tired of “being good" that he chucked his Bible in a river and started sleeping around.
3. Letting it Go: In probably the most famous scene of the movie, Elsa suddenly bursts into song as she sings “Let it Go," rejoicing that “the perfect girl is gone" and that she doesn't “care what they're going to say." Having lived under a microscope her entire life, she declares that there is “no right, no wrong, no rules" for her. But the tragic thing is that she's all alone, the queen of “a kingdom of isolation." Having been embittered at the world and the people in it, do you withdraw to yourself? If so, you don't have to be alone because you are so loved by your Father! As for Elsa, another thing she discovered is that because she couldn't control herself, she had no way to prevent herself from creating winter and hurting other people. Having tried so hard her whole life to not harm Anna, she ended up freezing her heart and endangering her life. Similarly, I remember in junior high I had a pretty loose tongue, an inflated ego, and a major lust problem. Though it sometimes felt nice to do whatever felt satisfying, it cost others. And needless to say, I wasn't truly free, just like Elsa.
   
   
4. Only true love can thaw a frozen heart: So what finally saved me? Was it being told I would suffer in flames if I made a practice of sinning and failed to behave better? Although technically true, it would likely have produced more guilt in me and therefore made me even worse off. To see what finally worked, let's look at Elsa. Do you remember what happened when Anna sacrificed herself? Elsa immediately wept over her lost sister, and when her sister unfroze (if you didn't watch the movie I know you're probably confused) Elsa was confounded and overjoyed that Anna would sacrifice her life for her. And because of that, Elsa finally understood that love was the key to using her powers rightly, and the winter ended. She could still produce ice, but she only did it in ways that gave others joy. The bottom line is this: the only way to love God is to realize that he infinitely and unconditionally loves you. The only way to give anything of value to him is to know that he already went bankrupt by giving away the life of his Son in order to get you back. God doesn't love with strings attached or fine print. He gives it freely, not needing anything in return. Receiving that love is the key to loving God the way you were created to and to walk with him hand-in-hand as his little girl or boy. If you were looking for something that seems manlier to you, just think of all the war stories where soldiers were inspired to forfeit their entire lives because one comrade was willing to take a bullet for them.

If you grew up bound by the chains of legalism, look at Jesus who died just to know you and to love you. As it says 2 Corinthians 3:6, “For the letter [law] kills, but the Spirit gives life" (NIV). It is the death of Jesus that eliminated the sin that we all should have died for, and his resurrection that gave us the righteousness we need. The Holy Spirit living in you gives you the ability to walk out the standard that Christ modeled. Also, don't be surprised to find some “ice powers" too – because God told them, I've seen people tell me my exact struggles before I said a word about them, and I once prayed for a girl with crutches and watched her carry them up a hill after God healed her. Our Father loves to do that kind of thing through his children.

With all that being said, this is what I want you to take away:

Because God loves you so much and has your back, you can truly say, “The fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all."

Because you really are forgiven, completely, you can truly believe, “I'm never going back, the past is in the past."

If your heart is cold, look at the profuse love that Jesus gives to you. And if someone else's heart is cold, instead of pointing the finger, ask the Holy Spirit to help you model Christ's love to them. Because Frozen got one thing right for sure:

Only true love can thaw a frozen heart.

Works cited:

2 Corinthians. New International Version. N.p.: Biblica, 2011. Print.

Lopez, Robert, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and Emanuel Kiriakou. "Let It Go (From "Frozen"/Soundtrack Version)." Google Play. Google, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.