Jean Valjean becomes Christ-like after his own figurative dying to his old life and rising to God’s love. He has a scene of struggle, which mirrors what my internal struggle so often looks like. He sits in a church, realizing what he has become and the bitterness which has filled his heart. He knows inside that this isn’t what he was meant for. He goes back and forth between anger and openness to God until that crucial moment. Something changes in his heart.
He decides to forgive himself.
In my pride I want to do it all myself, yet alone we can never hope to reach our ideal. But that’s not bad, because God makes up for what we don’t have. Rather than concentrating on perfecting my self-image and public image, I should concentrate on letting God love radically through me. The rest will follow.
Later on in Les Misérables, Javert marvels at Valjean’s actions. He can’t fathom. how a criminal could be so good. Valjean’s response is startlingly simple: I am a man no worse than any other. Valjean doesn’t hate himself or have delusions of grandeur. He simply is what he is before God, nothing more, nothing less. He loves the best that he can. Wiser people than me have called this what it is: humility.
Image source: Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, https://www.galileeumc.org/grace-of-les-miserables/
Quotation source (Busted Halo)
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