What are you most passionate about? Consider what makes your heart pound out of excitement, where it is clear your emotions and energy cannot be contained. Here are a few things that ignite that passion within me…
- The truth about God, his love for mankind, and my personal relationship with him. Dine in my home and pray before a meal and you’ll observe this passion.
- My wife and children. Ask me anything about any of these people and/or my marriage in general and you’ll know.
- Food, glorious food! Shopping for it, preparing it, smelling it, eating it; alone or with others, raw, baked, fried, smoked or grilled!
- My job and the opportunity to lead people, especially when teammates grow and thrive and show their passion for teamwork and results.
- God’s creation. The flowers I’m looking at right now, thunderstorms, mountains, vast seas, fresh water, forests, and the seemingly infinite attributes of every creature on this planet.
Showing and sharing our passion can reveal what we believe to be true about God and ourselves. Our healthy and God-honoring passions often influence others positively and ignite fruitful dialogue and relationships. For example, a cheetah can run up to 75 miles per hour. While this is both interesting and scary, it is also beautiful because cheetahs and all creatures exist and are unique because God made them that way, with intention, for a purpose, for his glory.
Interviewing Passion
I’ve recently interviewed six candidates for a job at my company for countless hours, and the thing I seek most to identify is their passion. One of the candidates stood out as the front runner when it came to skill, experience, eloquence in speech, and polite behavior. What was frustrating was that we spent several hours together, and I didn’t observe his passion for anything. I had so much hope to hire this person because on paper, he was perfect. Then, as a final attempt, I said, “Tell me something you are super passionate about, whether personally or professionally.” His response was, “I don’t know… my daughter” and as he said the words “my daughter”, it was almost in the form of a question. At that moment, I realized this candidate would not inspire others in the way that we need him to.
Paul’s Passion
In today’s reading (Acts 20) Paul is speaking to the Ephesian Elders and what stands out is his passion for:
- Doing the Lord’s work, despite the challenging circumstances. (v. 18-19)
- Sharing the gospel. (v. 20-21)
- Unwavering obedience to the Holy Spirit and trust in God’s will. (v. 22-24)
- Fearlessness and boldness. (v.25-27)
- Caring about people, seeing them as God sees them. (v. 28-31)
- Growing other leaders (handing over the mission when it was time). (v. 28-32)
- Integrity and selflessness. (v. 33-35)
- Interpersonal relationships and loving others. (v. 36-38)
Paul’s passion for Christ was unwavering and reminds us to live in such as way as God intended, with passion first for him and for others, to love God and love people. May we all strive to be more like Paul, and ultimately more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is and was the ultimate Passion as he suffered and died for our sins.