pride and prejudice

after multiple times watching the movie (i won't say how many) i thought i should share the sweet revelation the Lord gave me through pride and prejudice.
He really used a mix of the book and the movie to show me this profound truth: true love will always be expressed through humility. let me take a moment to explain how He showed me this... if you haven't seen the movie, this might be confusing. you should go watch it.
when mr. darcy first confessed his love for miss elizabeth, she was absolutely shocked. ever since she had met him, she had perceived as a proud and pompous jerk. and when he shared his feelings, he even brought up the whole issue of his status and the inferiority of her birth. pretty bold... pretty prideful. and then he was surprised when she rejected him. meanwhile, she's completely shocked that he even had such feelings for her, since all she had seen of him was his proud attitude.
after this, mr. darcy goes to extreme measures to amend the wrongs miss elizabeth held against him. the most powerful expression was when he paid for the wedding and a considerable dowry to one of his greatest enemies for the sake of preserving the bennett family's integrity.
moving on to love confession number two (which was just such a great scene in the movie). here is when the book was so revealing to me. mr. darcy says to her that her rejection had indeed been humbling for him, and that was just what he had needed. he tells her that all he had done, especially the humbling act of giving money to his enemy, had all been for her. all he wanted was her love in return.
now to us... God spoke to me and showed me that if love is genuine, it must be given in complete humility, or it will not be received. just like mr. darcy, He could have come in all His greatness, reminding us of how advantageous it would be for us to accept Him. but... He knew we would never understand how real His love was if He had done that. He came in the humblest of circumstances, in a lowly stable surrounded by lowly people. He died a humiliating death, paying a huge ransom to His most hated enemy, all for our redemption. He did that so we wouldn't accept Him just for the advantage He offers. instead, we see His love is real and we are free to simply love Him back.
"you had to know... it was all for you."