The Legend of Gingerbread Men - Harvest (2024)

December 15, 2017 |

The Legend of Gingerbread Men - Harvest (1)

It’s that time of year! With all the various celebrations and gatherings with loved ones, I start thinking about baking Christmas treats. Making (and eating) gingerbread man cookies has become a tradition in my home. There’s just something about a freshly baked gingerbread cookie with a hot cup of tea that screams Christmas to me! But this little treat also reminds me of a Bible verse. Paul wrote, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of God. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT).

I know what you’re thinking. What in the world do gingerbread men have to do with the Bible? Well listen and I’ll tell you the story of how gingerbread men became synonymous with Christmas. As the legend goes, Queen Elizabeth had these delicious cookies made for foreign diplomats who visited the palace at Christmas time. These specially designed cookies were a symbol of peace and love. Each cookie was carefully made into the likeness of the queen’s guests. Great care went into every detail so that the resemblance was authentic. Only the most skilled artisans could accomplish such a task; bakers with the ability to capture the most intricate details of a person’s features.

Now those gingerbread men created in the likeness of the queen’s guests, reminds me that we were created in the likeness of Christ. It is by His Spirit that we are made more and more like Him. Only the most skilled artisan can accomplish such a task in us—one with the ability to capture the most intricate details of Christ’s character. And by God’s grace this artisan, the Holy Spirit, is living in us.

Christmas is a time when we are tempted to defer to our flesh. It’s so easy to focus on the hustle and bustle of this busy season. But in order for our resemblance to Christ to be authentic, we need to be moldable like gingerbread dough, willing to bend and even break, if need be. As we surrender our will to Christ, we allow our character to be changed more into His likeness. Only then can we reflect the image of the true Prince of Peace and author of love. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season.

The Legend of Gingerbread Men - Harvest (2)

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Zenovia Bernier

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The Legend of Gingerbread Men - Harvest (3)

Pat Martin | December 19, 2017

Thanks, Z. for this timely reflection! May our likeness of Christ be a sweet reflection to those around us, as sweet and desirable as these cuties! You are a sweet aroma of Christ to me and those who know you. Merry Christ-mas.

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The Legend of Gingerbread Men - Harvest (2024)

FAQs

What is the moral of the story of the gingerbread man? ›

Moral Of The Story

The gingerbread man was very confident that he could run fast and escape from everyone. However, he was proved wrong when the sly fox caught him. Secondly, “we should never trust anyone blindly”. The gingerbread man believed the fox offered him and was not at all tempted to eat him.

What is the dark story behind The Gingerbread Man? ›

The gingerbread man story's moral is slightly dark for a fable meant for children: Be careful who you trust. The cookie believed the fox when he said he wasn't tempted to eat him—this misguided trust led to the protagonist's downfall.

What is the rhyme for the gingerbread man? ›

Run, run, run as fast as you can, You'll never catch me, I'm the gingerbread man. I ran from the baker and his wife too. You'll never catch me, not any of you.

What happens at the end of The Gingerbread Man? ›

The tale ends with a fox catching and eating the gingerbread man who cries as he is devoured, "I'm quarter gone... I'm half gone... I'm three-quarters gone...

What is the point of gingerbread men? ›

Taking their lead from the Queen, gingerbread men were often handed out by folk medicine practitioners (often known as magicians and witches). These gingerbread men were created as “love tokens” for young women. The idea was to get the man you'd like to marry to eat the gingerbread man! Tadah!

What does The Gingerbread Man symbolize for Christmas? ›

One theory holds that since the "men" are really more toddler-shaped than adult, they came to represent the baby Jesus at Christmas. And the spices involved are sometimes thought to represent the exotic gifts of the Magi.

Why was gingerbread illegal? ›

A fear that gingerbread men could be the agents of the devil also spread throughout Europe. In 1607, the superstitious magistrates of Delft in the Netherlands made it illegal to either bake or eat any of these molded and spiced cookies. This was also a time of religious upheaval.

Is The Gingerbread Man a folklore? ›

A folktale develops over time as it is told by different people. It is passed down through the generations and usually has a moral, or lesson, attached to the story. The Gingerbread Man is a folktale about runaway food. The fleeing food could be a pancake from Germany, a dumpling from Hungary, or a bun from Russia.

Who is the villain in The Gingerbread Man? ›

Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz) is the main antagonist in the film "The Gingerbread Man". Assuming that her father would inherit his precious area of forest rather to his pals, then to her, she tricked an attorney into killing him, by staging the kidnapping of the lawyers children and blaming her father for it.

What is the metaphor of the gingerbread man? ›

The story of the gingerbread man could be an analogy where the oven is education; the parents are the educators; the gingerbread an individual; the animals technology; the river life and the fox is a controller.

Where did the Gingerbread Man story originate? ›

"The Gingerbread Man" (sometimes, "The Gingerbread Boy") is an American fairy tale. It is a variant of the European runaway pancake story. The American version first appeared in the May 1875 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine.

Why does everyone chase the gingerbread man? ›

Why did everyone want to catch the Gingerbread Man? Answer: Everyone wanted to catch him because they wanted to eat him.

What is the moral of gingerbread man? ›

Answer and Explanation: The moral of the story of the gingerbread man is to be careful of who you trust. The gingerbread man outruns the people and animals chasing him, but then reaches a river where a fox is sitting on the bank.

Why is it called gingerbread? ›

Etymology. Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger. It then referred to a confection made with honey and spices. Gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d'épices ( lit.

Why did the gingerbread boy not say anything more at all? ›

The Gingerbread Boy did not say 'anything more at all' because he had been eaten by the fox. There was nothing left of the Gingerbread Boy.

What can children learn from the gingerbread man? ›

Little characters can do big things. Don't automatically trust a stranger. Never run away from your family and people who love you. Bragging, teasing, and taunting will not make you friends.

What is the lesson of the story? ›

A theme is the message, or lesson, that the reader learns by reading the story. Sometimes a story has a particular kind of message, known as a moral. A moral is a type of message that teaches a reader a life lesson, such as what is right or wrong, how to make decisions, or how to treat other people.

What is moral in the story? ›

The moral of a story is the lesson that story teaches about how to behave in the world. Moral comes from the Latin word mores, for habits.

What is the main conflict in the gingerbread man? ›

Conflict a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one. The conflict in “The gingerbread man” is after the old women finishes making the little gingerbread man he comes to life and runs straight out the window down the street. The animals along the road start to chase the gingerbread man.

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