Are You ... Passionate?

When God saved me, I worked many years trying to get the passion OUT of me.  Life was pretty much beating out the rest.  I didn't even have a favorite food.  I mistakenly believed that passion was a BAD thing.  Can you say "stoic"?  Until God showed me THIS:

"Never be lacking in zeal,

but keep your spiritual fervor,
serving the Lord."  Rom 12:11

Huh?  What's Paul talking about?  That word "fervent" in Greek literally means "to be hot (boil, of liquids; or glow, of solids)".  And in the English dictionary fervent means - having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm, etc.; ardent; hot; burning; glowing; intensely passionate.

I heard the pastor Josiah Bancroft make this statement:

"Faith that doesn't bring passionate emotions is no faith at all."

And then my dear friend sang this for us at church:

And God revealed two things to me:

First - worldly passion and spiritual passion are different.  Worldly passion seeks after the things of this world.  The lusts of the flesh.  Selfish desires.  Spiritual passion is being hot for God.  For His Kingdom.  For His glory.  Cultivating a spiritual hunger and thirst.  Delighting in Him, His nature, His works, and the story He is writing in our lives.  Spiritual passion trumps worldly passion.  Every time.  In fact, the only way to really overcome worldly passion is with spiritual passion.  But that's another post.  :)

And second - I needed to be spiritually passionate.  And I wasn't!  And I'll have to save my "Journey to Passion" for another post.  :)