Lilo & Stitch ~ You Are a New Creature

Lilo & Stitch ~ You Are a New Creature

Lilo is a lonely, hurting and misunderstood child. She acts out because people don’t know how to relate to her pain and the fact her “family” situation is different than the norm.

Stitch is an alien monster created to be evil. He is designed to seek out large cities where he will back up sewers, reverse street signs and steal everyone’s left shoe. When questioned at the beginning by officials of the Galactic Alliance he is sassy and rude.

Both bite, hit and try to find happiness in their own actions but are very unhappy. Truly Lilo and Stitch behave exactly alike.

In an attempt to help Lilo feel loved her elder sister and guardian, Nani decides to get a dog for her. Instead of a dog Lilo picks an alien creature, Stitch. Stitch plays along with Lilo pretending to be a dog as a way to hide from those seeking to catch him. If he is with Lilo they will not and cannot attack him.

As the story progresses Lilo works hard to teach Stitch how to be a “good citizen”. She shows him his badness level is high for a creature as small as he is. No matter what Stitch does Lilo loves and accepts him. She says he is the newest member of the O’hana (Hawaiian for Family). “O’hana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.”

Stitch keeps trying to escape but Jamba (his evil creator and person now trying to catch him) is always there making him stay with Lilo. Lilo encourages Stitch to create rather than destroy, care not attack.

Lilo reads the story of the ugly duckling to Stitch and Stitch starts to think about family. He has none because he was created by Jamba. He realizes he wants to change. He wants family and belonging. He feels lost.

In the end Stitch could leave and let Lilo be taken away by aliens. Instead Stitch risks his life and freedom to help her. His behavior is less than perfect but he is trying to be good. When he is finally caught and about to be taken away he simply and calmly asks if he can say good bye to his “family”. He says, “This is my family. It is little and broken. But, it is good.”

What changed Stitch from the evil creature with only destruction as his goal to a loving creature risking it all for his “O’hana”? Love.

What can change us from the selfish, naturally evil creatures we are born to be into a loving, caring person?

2 Corinthians 5:16-19

From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.

God does not want us to view each other or ourselves as we use to. Don’t judge each other or ourselves! If we are “in Christ” (if we accept Him and will realize we are joint heirs with Christ, adopted children of God) we are a new person! The old habits and desires will go away! (No! It is not a magic bullet that solves addiction and bad behavior overnight.)

I believe that as we grow into the realization that we belong to the “family of God” we lose the desire for wrong and the desire to do good grows. We become new creators! Just like Stitch went from craving destruction to desiring to do good as he realized he had an O’hana that loved him and that he loved in return.

Also as we help others learn to do the right things we ourselves learn to do good. Lilo was not a nice, good little girl at first. But, by trying to teach Stitch she learned better behavior and grew. She also learned that her “O’hana”, Nani and David was there for her and accepted the love.

Remember that all it takes is asking to be accepted into God’s O’hana. He loves you no matter what you have done or are doing. His forgiveness is complete and His loving ways transforms us in ways we can never fully understand.