Netflix’s newest hit series, Bridgerton, a historical piece based on Julia Quinn’s novel that takes place during the Regency era in London, has taken the streaming world by storm. Passion, romance, deception, gossip, royalty, wealth, and sex (if you have not watched the series, prepare yourself for some incredibly steamy lovemaking sessions) are themes interwoven in the story as the eight siblings of the Bridgerton family attempt to find love.
Based on this summation, I’m sure I’ve piqued your interest in wondering just what Bridgerton and being God’s beloved have in common. Initially, I didn’t see the correlation either. Well, not until the eighth and final episode of the season.
One evening last week, frustrated, tired, and discouraged from news I had received earlier in the day, I stretched out on my recliner trying to tune my ear to the worship music playing from my Pandora app. This is something I have a habit of doing when my mind starts racing about life and I can’t seem to quiet it. Worship calms my mind and spirit.
Out of seemingly nowhere, I heard the words, Satan is after your identity. My ears perked up because I knew these weren’t my own thoughts. God was speaking. Pressing the down button on the side of my recliner so I could sit up, He continued to speak. When you are saved, your identity changes because you become a child of God—a beloved child of God—and Satan spends the rest of your life trying to convince you that you are not. He whispers that you are an addict, sinner, failure, sick, worthless, fat, too skinny, unlovable, impostor, hopeless….
And just as soon as the voice begun, it stopped. No telling me what I’m supposed to do with these words or how they apply to my situation, I felt a little lost. I continued to listen, but nothing else came. I was smart enough to write it down, but that was it.
It was not until over the weekend when I was more than halfway through watching episode eight of Bridgerton that it all began to make sense. Without giving away too many spoilers, Daphne, the main character, gives quite a gripping monologue to her husband, Simon—the Duke of Hastings. Read her words below:
“Just because something is not perfect doesn’t make it any less worthy of love. He made you believe that you needed to be without fault to be loved, but he was wrong. I love all of you. Even the parts that you believe are too dark and too shameful. Every scar. Every flaw. Every imperfection. You may think that you are too damaged or too broken to ever allow yourself to be happy, but you can choose differently, Simon. You can choose to love me as much as I love you…. only you can make that decision. It cannot be up to anyone else.”
It was at this moment that I hastily leaped out of my recliner while it was still sprawled out and made my way to stand closer to the TV. I turned back towards my recliner to grab my remote, but in my carelessness to get closer to the TV, I misplaced the remote. Lowering the recliner and feeling on the sides of the seat, I finally located the remote.
I just had to rewind to hear Daphne words again. I’m sure you also see the epiphany I had. Daphne was speaking to her husband, but I heard God speaking to me! My eyes began to well up with tears. I tried to stop them, but they began to roll down my face.
My friends, you are God’s beloved! When you chose to make Him Lord of your life, you became His beloved child. Satan (and some faulty theology) tries to make you believe that you are only worthy of God’s love when you have everything together and are without fault, or only if you fit into some of these acceptable man-made categories that say you are deserving of His love. Satan wants you to doubt your identity as God’s beloved, believing instead that because you have too many faults and still dabble in sin, you are worthless. But as Daphne spoke, “Just because something is not perfect does not make it any less worthy of love.”
God loves you! All of you! Those skeletons you have hidden in the closest and those things you’ve done that you hope never see the light of day—He knows what those are and yet, He still loves you! You aren’t too broken to be worthy of His love.
Today, choose to love Him as much as He loves you. You are His beloved and the apple of His eye.