I’ve been thinking about what I enjoy. What do I want to do with my life? What awakens my heart? What calls me up higher? Where do I want to grow? It is what most people call passion. It’s my guess you have been thinking along the same lines. I am sensing and have seen how I need to pay attention to where my focus and interests are aligning. These things are changing for me. When I notice this, I start looking for clues and start asking questions: What am I interested in? Where am I spending my time, energy, talents, money? What am I passionate about in this season of my life?  Passion simply put is the energy to accomplish goals. 

Passion is the energy to accomplish goals. – Tweet This!

Be careful! There are two different kinds of passion:

1. A true passion comes with an accompanying expression of joy and fulfillment that is free from worry of what another thinks. It has a measure of grace that allows us to be able to run in what we are called to do, achieving and obtaining a goal. It might be hard but we are able to persevere and it feels so right and good.
2. The second kind of passion is this white hot and wild passion that has desire flashing and splashing with a spew of red lava. It’s fraught with trauma and drama that sweeps across my life.

When looking up passion in the bible you will find: fleshly passions, sensual passion, defiling passion, human passion, ungodly passion, slaves to passion. This passion doesn’t sound very good to me and when I’ve lived this passion I felt empty, unfulfilled, and left wishing I knew a better way.

True passion, the kind that is rooted in Christ is something that I always want to sense in the undercurrent in my life. How I know it is there is through reflection. As I look and ponder I see it reveal itself in what I do,  how I carry myself, what I talk about, and how I think about and love others. It is in the way I move about my day. I believe that God put this passion in us because He is a passionate God. A consuming fire kind of God. The kind of God who keeps promises because His passion for us is undefiled, beautiful, for our good and His glory.

Here’s the thing, I see people use passion all the time. It is unharnessed and full of jumps and starts like an engine starved for gas. Passion is the fuel flowing in our veins that awakens us and lights our lives on fire for what is worthwhile and meaningful.

What can we do about that?

How do we harness this fire the Lord put in us for our good, His kingdom and His glory?

Get the order straight: Many people wait to feel the passion and then move. They are reliant on emotion to give them the energy to accomplish what they are passionate about. It works but in very short spurts.

Lasting passion comes from DECISION + ACTION = PASSION 

God works like this all the time. For example, God chose you + Sent His Son = Then Chases you down with love.

It’s His formula, not mine. Motion creates Emotion as Tony Robbins says.

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

What if you don’t even know what you are passionate about?

How do you begin?

3 Ways To Help Find Your Passion. Plus One Extra Fun Good Stuff: 

1. Take an assessment of your personality: A personality assessment will help you discover what your good at, understand your unique strengths and weaknesses, and get to know yourself. Take a simple DISC test here.
2. Ask yourself some questions: Who are your favorite authors? What are they talking about that hooks you every time? What are you most used words on facebook? Check here. What do you spend money on and what motive is it underneath that is driving that purchase?
3. Pay attention:  When you are feeling the emotion of  “I don’t want to do this!” pay attention then slide up next to that feeling and ask what you would rather be doing. If you hate your job, get a new one, try something else. PS. No, it doesn’t make you look like a failure, or unreliable or whatever you may be thinking if you try multiple things out. How do you know what you like? If you don’t try. Like we tell our nextgen students: Jump In – just try! You might like it, you might hate it, but you will never know if you don’t jump. 

EXTRA: For fun, you can take the 4 tendencies test by Gretchen Rubin here. Find out how do you handle expectations?

HAPPY SEARCHING!

Thanks for Listening,

Starla