There is a running theme in villains in film and literature. They all compare themselves with the protagonist.
“Why? In God’s name Why?” Cried Edmond Dantes.
“Because you’re the son of a clerk, and I shouldn’t want to be you.” Fernand Mondego, the son of a cout, replied as he betrayed his best friend in the Count of Monte Cristo.
“I could never be the son that you wanted.” Commodus said to his father, Caesar, when told that he would not inherit the throne, but instead the seat would go to Maximus. As the story is told in Gladiator
“Good form Peter.” Hook said as Peter waited patiently for Hook to arm himself. He displayed good manners seemingly naturally while Hook stove for excellence, Peter seemed to have his naturally.
Harry had instant fame and better known family name than Malfoy, William Wallace had more passion even though he didn’t have a title like Robert the Bruce, Snow White was just a girl with a good heart, a good heart that her stepmother couldn’t stand that it kept beating.
We loathe these villains, shake our heads in disgust at their behaviors: betrayal, cheating, murdering, and lying. But their deepest issue is one that we deal with on a daily basis. They are comparing themselves with other people.
We see these villains and think,”that could never be me, I could never do that.” But aren’t you doing that to yourself, or even to someone you love on a daily, maybe hourly basis? Every time we compare ourselves to someone else, every time we try to control someone, we’re becoming the villain. We’re trying to make ourselves or someone else fit into a mold.
What if Commodus had accepted the fact that Maximus was indeed better suited to be Caesar than him? What if Fernand Mondego was joyful and content and made the most of the rank that he did possess? What if Hook stopped striving and just enjoyed the booty of his pillaging? What if Malfoy just accepted the fact that Harry didn’t choose to be famous?
What if we stopped comparing ourselves to those around us and stopped trying to control everything, but instead, enjoyed what is in us? I don’t have the same gifts and talents as you, I just don’t. But you don’t have mine either.
God didn’t make us to fit into some mold, square peg = square hole NOPE! I’m not a square peg, and I’m not dough or batter either to be poured into or shaped any which way. But guess what, NEITHER ARE YOU!
We’re not meant to control everything or everybody, God has a plan for them just as much as he has a plan for the rest of us. That plan isn’t going to fit into a mold any more than the person living it out will.
It’s going to be wild, it’s going to be great, it’s going to be full of him. That’s the anti-mold, it’s the melting fire that will turn that mold into something beautiful, useful and dangerous…like a sword, a shield, or another piece of holy armor.
This is a lesson that God is taking me deeper into, I’ve been trying so hard for so long to fit into a mold, a mold that God has worked VERY hard to keep me out of. This crazy adventure called life is too short to try to control it, and think about it for a second will you? The disciples didn’t say, “Well Jesus is risen, guess I’ll just go pick up my nets and go back to work now.” NO! Come on! They went head on into the storm and held on tight, because they knew that’s all they could do. Great stories aren’t lived in the mold.
“I want to live a nice controlled life that looks like everyone else’s.” Said no one (in sincerity) ever. At our core we desire acceptance, love, and to trust someone implicitly and follow them. It’s hard when you can’t see them physically and/or hear them audibly, but we still know the pull of the Spirit and we see His image every day in the faces of those around us and in the mirror. It’s an adventure that’s unique to you, because we’re loved that much.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T the story. This is what I’m doing my best to walk in right now. Thank you so much reading and for hanging on through this long blog. It’s a pleasure to get to share this with you and I pray that it made you laugh and think.
