What If I Lose My Passion for God?
Can I give you the first two answers that come to mind?
Congratulations. You are a human being.
So. Why does it matter?
Oh, you may be looking for an answer to a different question, such as, How Do I Get My Passion for God Back? Tell ya what, let’s just cover all three.
The Fickleness of Passion
Before you ask, yes, fickleness is a word. It means, “marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability: given to erratic changeableness.” Here is a truth. Passion is for God is not what we should be striving for. Even so, we want is for these words from Isaiah to be always true!
“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
-Isaiah 12:5-6 ESV
YES! Wouldn’t it be amazing to always be filled with praise and joy for our Lord!?!? What if every moment of every day was filled with rapturous adoration of our Savior? FANTASTIC!
Except it wouldn’t be great. And we weren’t designed by God for that. In fact, even though many of us were taught to think that’s all we would be doing in Heaven, the fact is Heaven won’t be boring.
Sisters and brothers, passion waxes and wanes. Anyone who has been married, or even in a long-term romantic relationship knows it’s true. So, the first thing to keep in mind about passion is to not worry when it seems to fade away. That is normal. It happens to every person on the planet and being a Jesus follower doesn’t make us immune.
Is Losing Your Passion a Problem?
Well, no, not if that’s how God designed us. And as we’ve already mentioned, having passion for God isn’t the goal. I know, I know, you want to continuously feel God’s presence and have the sensation of being loved by Him. Sorry, that’s not always going to happen.
You see, passion can be defined as, “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.” But that leads us back to the first point, passion is fickle and unpredictable. It’s a feeling. People who rely on passion as their guide end up following their heart, and that is the path to a life of emptiness, heartache, and failed relationships.
I’ll say it again. You lost your passion. So. Why does it matter?
It doesn’t. But, before you get all ticked off at me, let’s talk about what DOES matter, and how you might get some passion back.
What Really Matters
In the past, my lovely bride and I have taught marriage classes at church, and I’ve written a lot on marriage. One of the critical things we teach is that love is not an emotion or feeling, love is a choice. You show love to another person by taking actions for that person’s benefit. This is demonstrated perfectly in what is perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
-John 3:16 ESV
God gave us Jesus, and Jesus voluntarily gave up His life for us, all because of love. The Father and Son loved us by taking action. Love is always carried out by actions.
Here is how this relates to losing your passion. It is not the feeling of passion that matters. Feelings come and feelings go. What matters is taking action to love God and love others, just like Jesus.
But I Want to Get the Passion Back!
Of course you do, and I’m with you! So, I’ll tell you what you can do, and it’s wrapped inside of a principle.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
-Matthew 5:6 ESV
Typically hunger and thirst happen because we haven’t eaten or had something to drink recently. But in this verse, Jesus is telling us if we desire and take action to seek righteousness, we shall be satisfied. Beloved, this is a critical principle. The appetite you feed grows. If you eat sugary foods, you desire more sugary foods. If you start eating healthy foods, you begin to desire more healthy foods. If you start a new habit and stick with it, soon it becomes a desire.
Do you know what a habit that you pursue with great energy and focus becomes? A passion. Beloved, the secret to getting your passion for God back is simple. Take the kinds of actions you would take if you already felt passion for God!
If you lack the feelings of passion, then take passionate actions. Dive deeply into His Word. Spend long periods of time in prayer. Listen to worship music that inspires your soul in Him. That’s how you get your passion for God back! (Does this sound a lot like the Secret to Joy? It should, they’re inextricably linked.)
A loss of passion for God is simply a prompt, or a warning that it’s time to fully reengage with Him. Once you do so, don’t be surprised if you soon have more passion than ever before!
If you have follow-up thoughts, feel free to reach out to me directly via our contact form. Also, if you’d like to learn more about me and why I create all this content about following Jesus, check out my About page. If you love the content and would like to support this work, please visit Troy Stoneking (buymeacoffee.com). Finally, would you like to see a list of ALL our blog posts? Here it is!
Love you Jesus follower!