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I’m excited to talk about passion this week because I write these “Teaching and Learning Articles” with a passion. I desire to write as I’m led by the Holy Spirit to boost someone’s spiritual growth.
I believe we all have a passion for something. Romans chapter 10 talks about a group of people who also have a passion. We will discuss them later in this article.
So, what is passion?
Passion is a strong feeling about something or someone or excitement for something you do now or for something you aspire to do in the future.
Webster’s English Dictionary defines passion as “extreme, compelling emotion or intense emotional drive.”
I see passion as a strong feeling from one’s heart and soul. Passion is also associated with love. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, died for the whole world out of passion.
Passion makes you want to go the extra mile when nobody wants to. It drives you to do what you do. It is the desire to take on amazing yet difficult challenges. Sometimes, one may never know they are passionate about something until they start it.
I can talk about passion all day because I pursued my television career out of passion. Without that, I could not have remained in that profession for over a decade because the salary was nothing to boast about. Aside from money, the environment was sometimes hostile.
Passion was why I would wake up at 4:30 AM to be on air at 6 AM for the morning show and get home some days as late as midnight because I also had to anchor the late-night news. I spent the early years of my career life on such a tight and often stressful schedule without a car. This means I was commuting by public transport or relying on friends and colleagues for a ride.
Therefore, I have concluded that excitement and satisfaction are the rewards for passion, while money and other benefits become secondary.
Synonyms of Passion
The word passion can replace synonyms, including zeal, enthusiasm, eagerness, and desire. Therefore, depending on your Bible translation, you may not see passion but one of the alternative words.
I want you to know that having a passion is not a bad thing at all. The Bible admonishes us in Romans 12:11 never to lag in passion or zeal and encourages us to lead with zeal in verse 8. While passion is not a bad thing, the things that drive your passion may need to be reviewed. You can have a passion for good things or have a passion for bad things that you’re probably unaware of.
For example, Apostle Paul once had a passion for persecuting. The Bible records that before his conversion, Paul, then known as Saul, had a passion for persecuting believers – Philippians 3:6. What a passion to have! It is captured in 1 Corinthians 15:9 that Paul (then Saul) persecuted the church out of his passion. What caught my attention is in 1 Timothy 1:13 when Paul, talking out of regret, says he acted out of ignorance and unbelief. He was ignorant about the faith he was passionately persecuting.
This brings me to two important questions: What do you have a passion for? And is your passion accompanied by knowledge or by ignorance?
Many people today look back with regret after investing time, money, and energy into projects that have failed because they followed their passion wrongly and had little or no knowledge about many things.
“Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good; impatience will get you into trouble.”-Proverbs 19:2 (NET)
I want you to know that passion must be balanced with knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 19, verse 2 teaches us to combine passion, enthusiasm, or desire with knowledge. The verse specifically states that enthusiasm without knowledge is not good.
So, how does one get knowledge?
In Hosea 4:6, God says, “His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Let me put it this way: ignorance leads to destruction. But take note that the people lacked knowledge not because knowledge was not available; they lacked knowledge because they rejected knowledge.
As a believer in Christ Jesus, the right knowledge you need to pursue your passion comes from the word of God. The secret is to rely on the Holy Spirit living in you for help with understanding. Scripture says it is the Holy Spirit who reveals the deep things of God -1 Cor 2:10. The Holy Spirit is your teacher -John 14:26. The verse says the Holy Spirit will teach you ALL THINGS, not some things or a few things. The Holy Spirit is always teaching, but have you always been present in His class? Without the Holy Spirit, the Bible may remain just another storybook.
Today, information is easily accessible because of search engines. When necessary, pursue further education. Enroll in a short course. Develop an interest in reading. Also, speak to people who have some experience in the field that you are interested in, as advised in Proverbs 12:15.
Passion with ignorance?
Now, let’s focus on Romans chapter 10. Apostle Paul calls out the Jews who have a passion/ enthusiasm/ zeal for God yet lack the right knowledge about God. Paul says he bears witness to their passion. That should tell you that their passion for God is not hidden. Yet they were not saved. Being ignorant about the righteousness of God, they sought their righteousness. These Jews do not know that salvation is by faith in Christ Jesus-Romans 10:9-10 and that the same faith in Christ Jesus produces righteousness -Romans 3:22, Romans 5:17. The Jews do all manner of good things out of their passion for God and try to earn righteousness by their good works.
Today, we have such passionate but ignorant people in our midst. They are present in churches, and some occupy leadership roles that mislead the whole congregation. They have a passion for God, but their passion is not driven by a true knowledge of God and what He expects from us. The missing link in their passion for God is faith or absolute trust and confidence in Jesus Christ.
Such people like to boast about their good deeds and religious activities, thinking their works save them and make them righteous. In John 6:29, Jesus says to believe in Him.
There would have been no need for the Savior if we could all become righteous by our effort. I want you to understand that we are accepted as righteous in the sight of God on account of what Jesus did -2 Cor 5:21.
Go all out and pursue your passion, but remember to balance it with the right knowledge and understanding so you don’t look back with regret.
You can learn more about passion in my four-part series “PASSION” on our YouTube Channel.
Send all your comments or questions to mailto:pqgm29@gmail.com
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