We pursue passion in almost every area of our lives. We want to be passionate about our jobs, our relationships, humanitarian causes, sports and more. And when it comes to developing and maintaining a passion about these things, the path is clear. We devote an increasing amount of time to learning about the subject of our passion, we spend time thinking about it, we invest in it financially, emotionally and even push our bodies to extremes, all in the name of passion. If the flame ever does die out, we just move onto the next big thing.
But it's not the same with God. Yes, we can draw parallels between the things we do to feed our earthly passions and the things we do as a result of our passion for Him (weekly Bible study, actively serving in church, fasting, praying), but if we lose passion for our faith, there is no next big thing.
In need of rediscovering your passion for God? Here are six Bible verses to read and reflect on.
Offer everything up to Him
Thinking that we need to do something spectacular to demonstrate our passion for God can lead us to become disillusioned and leave our relationship with Him devoid of passion. Instead of focusing on how great He is, our attention is fixed on how imperfect we are. That's not a good recipe for passion. Remind yourself that humble acts done in God's name are still worthy offerings.
Collosians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Give your heart to God
We have to truly open our hearts to God if we want to experience an intense enthusiasm for Him. If our heart's not in it, then we easily lose interest or start to think about our faith as a chore instead of a joy.
Psalm 84:2 - My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Abandon ungodly passions
Being passionate about one thing often means that we can't be passionate about something else. For example, you can't be passionate about two national football teams or two domestic political parties, in the end, one will dominate the other. As Christians, our faith needs to be paramount. Once we stop pursuing conflicting interests, we can reach a place where we rediscover true passion for God.
Galatians 5:24 - Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
James 4:3 - When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
