Becoming Cinderella in a "Stepsister" kind of World

My four-year-old has become enamored of Cinderella lately.  We borrowed the original Disney movie from our local library last week, and it's only accentuated her fascination.  Jacie's adopted the language of the Cinderella story as suits her, recently informing me with an exaggerated pout that I'm "so cruel" when I told her she can't have chocolate chip waffles every morning.

The playacting took a turn this afternoon while we were out with her little cousin.  Rounding on the younger girl trailing behind her in the store, Jacie commanded imperiously, "Cinderella!  Come here, Cinderella!"  My sister and I looked at each other bewildered, and I queried, "So if your cousin's Cinderella, then who does that make you, Jacie?  The mean stepsister?"

And it dawned on me that --of course! -- It's more attractive to be the one giving orders than to be the one following them.  It's far more appealing to be the one using someone than to be the one being used.

The good old-fashioned Disney move extols Cinderella for being good as well as beautiful (By the way, don't you just love the morality of the bygone era when beauty and goodness were entwined?) She sings as she works, shows kindness to all around her, and meekly submits to authority, even unloving authority.

But realistically, who wants to be the servant, cheerfully waiting on the selfish demands of people who take her for granted? Who wants to give, knowing she will never receive in return?

Perhaps Jacie didn't analyze her choice of role-playing the evil stepsister with this much scrutiny.  She didn't need to.  The innate selfishness of her human heart kicked in, and she gravitated toward the role that gave her the upper hand.

Isn't that who we all are, though?

If we're honest, isn't there a streak of "wicked stepsister" in each of us?  

Wouldn't we rather be the one being served than the one doing the serving?  Don't we recoil with disgust at the mere suggestion of being used or taken for granted?

Oh, may I become like Heaven's Cinderella, the Son of man Who "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  (Matt. 20:28)