Wings – Bride of Christ (Astrid/Hiccstrid, Anna, Jasmine)

Happy Monday, friends, and welcome to the fourth and final installment of the Wings devotional series! I’ve spent this month reflecting on four different facets of our identity in Christ, and I’ve really enjoyed doing so. This week’s character/headspace/heart posture is the Bride, and I found some really sweet examples from some of my favorite movies. Enjoy!

Fandom: Astrid/Hiccstrid, Anna from Frozen (especially Frozen 2), Jasmine from Aladdin

Verses: Psalm 45, Revelation 19:7-8, 1 Peter 3:3-4, 1 Cor. 1:9, Ephesians 5:21-32, Song of Solomon 2:10, 4:1,7, Hebrews 9:14, 1 John 1:9, Titus 2:14, Jude 1:24-25, Psalm 27:4, 1 Corinthians 13:1-7,13, Isaiah 54;10, Romans 8:38-39

Truth: As members of the Church, we are a part of the Bride of Christ. He has deemed us pure and lovely, and cares for us more deeply than we can ever imagine.

To find out more about the heart of this devotional series, check out this post : ).

the Character

Many of us dream of our wedding day as kids, especially us girls. The Bride character might be young or older, but her joy is the same. I picture her walking down the aisle on her wedding day, her eyes focused on her true love. She is radiant with joy and love, confident in her choice of life partner. She is not necessarily completely innocent, but she has learned from her past mistakes and her shame has been erased by the light of her love. I picture her standing at the altar, hand in hand with her love, looking forward to the rest of their lives together with awe and excitement. She is wise and strong, full of her own fire, and willing to put her strength towards the joint aims of herself and her Love.

Characteristics of the Bride

• Is pure of heart and mind, always confessing and returning when she makes mistakes
• Has the “new love glow” that brides are known for, constantly gazing at her Love as though there is nothing more beautiful in the whole world
• Giving and receiving love, primarily the love of the Lord, is her focus; she will sit in His presence for hours each day when she can, and the joy of it will show through in everything she does
• Is simultaneously meek and strong, wise enough to choose Who she submits to and whom she resists
• She wants nothing more than to support her King in everything He does because she believes in His purpose and His heart for His people

Astrid/Hiccstrid

Hiccstrid (Astrid + Hiccup) is one of my all-time favorite ships in all of the animated world. Seriously, they’re so adorable and wholesome in all three movies, and I could watch them interact ALL DAY 🤩😻🥹. But what I love the most about them is the way that they support each other. Astrid is the first to believe Hiccup when he says that dragons might not be the real enemy, and they rescue each other SO MANY TIMES (mostly Astrid rescuing Hiccup, but still) throughout the storyline. And also just the visual of these two equally-strong-in-different-ways people flying side by side on their dragons, going on adventures and saving the dragons that get captured and such, is just so beautiful. The reason I include them here, even though we can in no way claim to be equals with Jesus as the Groom to our Bride, is the way that they look at each other on their wedding day at the end of the third movie. The way that Hiccup’s eyes are shining and Astrid gives this little nod, and they’re holding each other’s hands and it’s just so lovely and sweet… It reminds me of being captivated by the beauty of the Lord and not wanting to look away, even for a moment.

Speaking of the Beauty of the Lord, here’s a post I wrote about not wanting to look away from Him and His love (and a Taylor Swift song!)

Anna (Frozen)

Anna to me is an example of the young, innocent, had-to-learn-things-the-hard-way type. I know SO MANY of us relate to her being betrayed by Hans after thinking that he was the one for her. I just love how she goes from throwing herself into the arms of the first guy who shows interest in her, to accepting the proposal of Kristoff, the man who has supported her as a friend, and then as a boyfriend, and ultimately as a husband. I also love this one line in Frozen 2 when Anna and Kristoff are finally reunited and Kristoff says something to the effect of “my love is not fragile.” Speaking to Anna leaving on a side quest without telling him, which he grew through and character developed as a result, but that’s another story… So yeah, Anna to me is a lesson in discernment of whom to trust with your heart. And here in this context, Jesus is the one who will always be worthy of our trust.

Jasmine (Aladdin)

Okay, so I just finished watching the live-action remake of Aladdin and Jasmine’s role in it is SO MUCH BETTER than the original! There’s a lot more of her struggle with being underestimated and the attempts to silence her and use her as a pawn. But there’s also a whole lot more of her intelligence and insight, and her relationship with Aladdin is MUCH more believable (and therefore romantic)! You can tell from the beginning that she likes him, but then the Whole New World scene shows her gradually getting used to the idea of being with him and maybe falling a little bit in love and She Has A Part In Where The Carpet Is Going, and there’s this one part where she leans her head against his shoulder that is SO STINKING ADORABLE, and… Anyway, there’s a lot of things that I like about this version of the movie, but the last one that I wanted to mention here is the fact that Jasmine resists the people who try to silence her, and when Jafar tries to force her to marry him she says NO! And this points me back to the process of trusting in Jesus as Lord (which takes more than an instant, just like falling in love takes more than TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, DISNEY). It’s a process of figuring out whom to trust and whom to resist. And I LOVE this parallel!!

Verses

Beauty, purity, and holiness

The King’s daughter is all glorious within; Her clothing is interwoven with gold. She will be brought to the King in colorful garments; The virgins, her companions who follow her, Will be brought to You. They will be brought with joy and rejoicing; They will enter into the King’s palace.

Psalm 45:13-15

I love how this verse describes getting married in COLORFUL clothes! Like, the idea of being pure and wearing white is cool and all, but I love color so yeah this verse is beautiful to me 😊

“Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright [and] clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Revelation 19:7-8

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:14

“My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. “How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are [like] doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead. “You are altogether beautiful, my darling, And there is no blemish on you.

Song of Solomon 2:10, 4:1, 7

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Fellowship, devotion, and submission

God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:9

And subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, [subject yourselves] to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself [being] the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives [ought to be] to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also [does] the church, because we are parts of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:21-32

This is one of the more sensitive passages of Scripture, and I’m sure it’s been used in harmful ways over the years, but it can also be beautiful if understood correctly. I bolded all the parts that refer to Christ and the Church; look at all the things it says for how He relates to us:

• He is the Head because He is our Savior
• we are subject to Him (in some translations it says “submit”)
• Christ loved the Church with a self-sacrificing love, making us holy and blameless (as He is)
• He nourishes and cherishes us

Ultimately, all of our human romances and marriages are meant to be a picture of this relationship between Christ and the Church. Since we’re all imperfect humans, it almost never goes this way all the time, which can make it a little bit difficult to picture the spiritual side of this description. But I just love all of the aspects listed above, and hey! The fictional relationships that I just wrote about might be a somewhat good picture of some of them.

Your adornment must not be [merely] the external–braiding the hair, wearing gold [jewelry,] or putting on apparel; but [it should be] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable [quality] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:3-4

who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.

Titus 2:14

Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, [be] glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude 1:25

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.

Psalm 27:4

If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have [the gift of] prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions [to charity,] and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good. Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own [benefit;] it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong [suffered,] it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things… But now faith, hope, [and] love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 13

“For a brief moment I abandoned you, But with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting favor I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer. “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My favor will not be removed from you, Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:8-10

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Reflection

Here are a few reflection questions to help us apply what we studied today:

• Take a moment to read through 1 Corinthians 13. How do all of the characteristics listed in verses 4-8 apply to Christ? How can you receive His love in each of these ways?
• Why is being presented to God the Father as blameless and pure so important? Who makes this level of purity possible?
• What position did a queen or royal bride occupy in ancient Israel (when they were following God’s design)?
• How does knowing that God’s love will never be removed from you affect your willingness to confess your sins to Him?

Free printable!!

Conclusion

I hope you’ve enjoyed and were inspired by this week’s installment of the Wings study! What are you taking away from it? Do you have any thoughts to share?

Happy fangirling!