You shape up to a man’s size or I’ll hunt you up an’ tear the gizzard out of you!”
–Charles A. Seltzer (The Range Boss)
“And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you.”
–2 Corinthians 8:22 (NKJV)
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Passion: 1) A powerful emotion.
2) Strong, sexual desire.
3) Boundless enthusiasm
4) An abandoned display of emotion.
So is the definition for passion from the American Heritage College dictionary. With that, let me ask, are you a person of passion? Most of the time, we think of passion in regard to the second definition. But that type of passion is only one part. Passion, in itself, is a powerful emotion, so powerful that it affects our will, and can affect our physical bodies as well. In the Bible, this is the type of passion that is most commonly mentioned; one that we are to guard against.
Passion is also used of Christ, His sufferings and agony, and death upon the cross. Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion, details this very well. But think of the reason. How could Christ endure the cross? The writer of Hebrews states, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (12:2, NKJV) The mission, the duty, and the fulfilling joy was also the passion of Christ as He went through the crucifixion.
Fervor is a common synonym and can mean “to boil” used in spirit. We read Acts 18:25, “This man [Apollos] has been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord…”. Paul also uses it this way in Romans 12:11 in dealing with how we are to live this life, “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” When studying this it caused me to stop and ponder. Is my spirit boiling within me to serve the Lord? Am I fervent? I know as a teacher, I worked, studied, prepared, studied some more then presented the lessons to the class. You could say that the lesson was boiling over within me.
We are to labor fervently or to strive. 1 Corinthians 4:12 tells us that Paul labored, he strove fervently…he endured. When I was a youth one thing I was passionate for was baseball. I lived for baseball. I watched it on television, I made up my own game, both on a board, and when I threw the ball against the stone foundation of our house. I collected baseball cards. In other words, I lived and breathed baseball. After practice was over at school, I would go home or to the sandlot and practice some more. Practice–striving fervently, for perfection. The passion for baseball flooded from me.
Perhaps a word closely related is “intensity.” I loved the intensity of the game, the intensity of practice. It followed into my life as a coach, teacher, and Royal Ranger commander. I learned the lesson of passion–I was to do everything as unto the Lord. “Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,” (Colossians 3:23, Amplified) became the slogan of my life. If you do something, do it right–do it to the best of your ability–and then get it done. It would “drive me crazy” to see lackadaisical attitudes, lazy performance, and those who would just get by. Mediocrity is a word I hate; it shows no passion. The mediocre person is a sluggard, a sloth, one who is a dreg on society, and truthfully on themselves. Work, labor–for the Master is waiting. Be diligent in your labor for Him.
This is one reason we are not to be complacent in our walk with the Lord. We cannot do our duty, live righteously before Him without passion. We must be fervent in our walk, guarding the truth, staying alert. Complacency is the way to perdition. Neither are we to compromise. How can we compromise something that we passionately believe and practice? So I encourage you to check where your passions lie. Take inventory, and if you are not passionate in your walk in the Lord–do so! “I don’t have another level. I give it all I have every time I’m out there. That’s all I know. If I had to take it to another level to win, I’d be out of luck, because this is the only level I’ve got.” (Ty Murray) This exemplifies the type of passion, fervency that we are to have in our life with the Lord.