I know I’ve already spoken about our identity in Christ in my post Identity in Christ: 3 Truths We Can Rest In, but I recently read a fantastic book that addressed this. As I mentioned in my post Why I Love to Read (and Write) Christian Romance, Christian fiction does a great job addressing issues we all struggle with. And with Winning the Gentleman, Kristi Ann Hunter addressed the issue of where Christians place their identity.
So often we think our identity lies in our weight or our job or our family. In Winning the Gentleman, Aaron Whitworth puts his identity in his parentage, specifically that he’s illegitimate.
Throughout the novel, he defines himself by the way he believes others view him. Because of this, he keeps most people at arm’s length. He visits London to remind himself of his place. And he even lives in a cottage that is almost an exact replica of the one he grew up in.
But later in the novel comes this incredible scene where Aaron finally realizes that he should define himself by what God thinks of him and not the world.
The reason why I loved this arc so much is that it’s a reminder this problem isn’t new. People struggled with it in the past. People struggle with it in the present. And people will struggle with it in the future.
For Aaron, it was so much more than what others thought of him, though. He also kept focusing on what he didn’t have instead of what he did have:
- A Father who loved him
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. – 1 John 3:1 - An inheritance that couldn’t be taken away from him
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – 1 Peter 1: 3-5 - Friends who wouldn’t desert him
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. – Proverbs 17:17
By the world’s standards, Aaron is less than. But by God’s standards, Aaron is loved and cared for. The moment Aaron realizes that he should live by God’s standards, that he should focus on all God has given him, he’s finally able to find peace in his life and allow himself to dream of a future.
The same goes for us. When we place our identity in Christ, when we focus on His standards instead of those from the world, we’ll finally let go of the weight the world tries to place on us. And we’ll realize that we can dream. God has made us for amazing things, not to follow arbitrary whims of society.
I could say so much more about the spiritual truths in this book, but I wanted to focus specifically on Aaron’s lesson. And I didn’t want to write too long of a blog post, especially since I already gushed about Winning the Gentleman in my review. If you haven’t read this book yet, I cannot recommend it enough. If you have, comment below and let me know what you thought of Aaron’s arc.
