We want to live safe. We avoid risk, but to live from a place of passion and desire we have to risk. We have to move toward something. It is love and desire that moves us. What we push away from, what we dislike, sometimes even hate, only moves or motivates us for a brief period of time. What we love is like gravity, constantly pulling us. It is our response to this constant pull, that changes us.
Tweet ThisThere are two approaches to how we live out passion and desire:
- Decide to pursue what you love and become what that pursuit makes of you.
- “The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being” – Matthew 6:21
- “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” – Psalms 37:4
- Determine what you wish to become, and pursue what will get you there, to what you love.
- The Bible teaches us that the goal of the Christian life is Christlikeness, it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that “we are being transformed into [Christ’s] likeness” while Romans 8:29 states that God “predestined [all believers] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” Christlkeness is God’s goal for all who trust in Christ, and that should be our goal also.”
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“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.” Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship
Both of these have to lead you to something larger than yourself. If your passions and desires are only about you or your comfort, then they are too small.. You have to find something that requires risk and community. Take some time, think it through, and pursue what you love. Anticipate what it will do to you, as it shapes and fashions you, and plan accordingly. Live the life you want, live the life you plan.
This was difficult to understand… “If your passion and desire is only about you or your comfort than it is to small.”
That’s when I realized, it wasn’t a problem with my understanding, but rather a problem with the grammar and/or spelling. It should read… “If your passion and desire is only about you or your comfort, then it is too small.”
As well, I don’t believe it is realistic to have only one passion and desire. I don’t know about others, but it is very easy for me to tune out when I hear that metaphor of “the one” being a polarizing type of thinking – either I have it or I don’t. I have many interests, some are more desired than others. I have many expectations, some are more desired than others. I realize that this polarized thinking is a way to encourage focus, but it is used so much that it discredits the message – in my view. Excessive use of hyperbole is the same as crying wolf. I would suggest the following change “If your passions and desires are only about you or your comfort, then they are too small.”
Thanks Calvin, I agree with your suggestion, thanks