“As our experience reveals, [our former inclinations] continue to tempt our hearts. Recollection, therefore, is the call to ground oneself in the truth of who we are in Christ, and, in doing so, to reframe everything else in the reality of that truth.”- Kyle Strobel and John Coe
“For [Christ’s] sake I have suffered the loss of all things and counted them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”- Hebrews 3:8-9 (ESV)
In Chapter 7 (“Who Am I Really? Collecting Our Hearts to Him”) of Where Prayer Becomes Real, Kyle Strobel and John Coe note this temptation. To use secondary identities as our primary identity. However, those identities fail under the weight of who you are. Especially who you are in Christ.
Above all, your secondary identities desire to reign in Christ’s place. Therefore, we want to use them to find security in our life. Even though no security lies there.
Hence, when confronted with the varied ways we fail to remain centered in Christ, we turn to the prayer of recollection. Thus, Kyle and John explain:
“This prayer focuses on recollecting the truth about ourselves so we can walk with God in reality. Philippians 3 provides us with the framework for this prayer, helping us see ways we can use secondary identities as primary identities. Paul leads us to reframe who we are in Christ, showing how everything else finds its proper place only in relation to Christ.”
Finally, like the apostle Paul, we must shed a righteousness of our own derived from the law. As people redeemed by Christ, we desire the righteousness that comes only from God through faith. As a result, Paul viewed the things that formerly animated and drove his life as rubbish.
Today’s question: How do you heed the call of recollection to reframe yourself in Christ’s reality? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “A yoke of our own making – soul weights”
