"Follow your passion."
We hear it everywhere. Chase your dream. Do what you love. Find the thing you could talk about for hours, the thing you'd do for free, and go build your life around it.
It's not wrong. It's just half right.
Because when you dig into what the word passion actually means, it asks a much harder question than "What do you enjoy?"
Quick disclaimer before we go further: I'm not a pastor. I'm going to share some scripture here, and I'd ask you to do what I'd ask anyone to do - seek God on your own, talk to your pastor, and check whether what I'm sharing is accurate. I'm just a fellow struggler trying to grow.
Passion comes from a word that means to suffer
The root of the word passion comes from Latin, and it means to suffer, to endure, to undergo. To experience something deeply.
That's a very different picture than "go chase your passions." Do you wake up excited to go chase suffering today? Me neither.
Here's how I'd put it. Enjoyment reveals interest. Endurance reveals passion.
I got to talk with a group of junior high cross country runners about this. I asked them which matters more for running, the mind or the body. Then I had them stand up and walk a few steps. Jog a few steps. They could already do it. So the question was never whether they could run. The question was what they'd add mentally when they could hardly breathe.
Same with football players. They're passionate about football - right up until they're asked to endure something they didn't want to endure.
If something only matters to you when it's comfortable, convenient, exciting or rewarding, it may be an interest. But it's not a passion yet.
The Passion of the Christ
Isn't it interesting that the movie is called The Passion of the Christ?
Jesus endured. He suffered for us beyond anything I can imagine. He showed what He loved and cared about most through what He was willing to go through on a cross. To be candid, I can't fully comprehend it.
So maybe there are three levels to this. Modern passion asks, "What do I enjoy?" Mature passion asks, "What am I willing to endure?" And a Christ-centered passion asks, "What am I willing to surrender and suffer for, because I belong to Jesus?"
Great pastor, leader and author Craig Groeschel says that because I have Jesus, I have enough. That helped me so much, because I'm a driven person and I struggle with contentment. If I go today, I'm ready. But if God gives me today, then I want to steward it - the gifts, the experiences, the relationships, the resources He's given me - the way the parable of the talents describes.
Some passions need to be surrendered
Galatians 5:24 says, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
Not every passion should be followed. Some need to be surrendered rather than satisfied.
That's an honest assessment worth making. Is there something I'm passionate about that isn't honoring God or serving who He wants me to be? It could be something that's controlling me instead of me controlling it. It could even be work. I've known people who endured and sacrificed to build their business and their wealth, and spent their health and their relationships doing it. A friend of mine would tell you himself: he spent his health building his wealth. I don't wish that for you.
Right before that verse, Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I don't know about you, but self-control might be the hardest one on that list for me.
And notice - it doesn't take much patience when no one's testing you. It doesn't take much self-control when temptation is absent. Adversity doesn't develop that fruit. It reveals it.
I get to, I choose to, I love to
My younger brother Ty lived 22 years with severe cerebral palsy. The only thing he could do was smile. I watched my mom care for him all of those years. So my bar for what counts as hard is pretty high, and his life changed how I see limits.
That's why I try to reframe. Not "I have to go train." I get to. Not "I have to serve." I choose to. An endurance runner I follow says he runs "for those who can't." You can fill in that blank with whatever is in front of you today.
And if your life is too comfortable, put something hard in your path on purpose. Move your body. Read something that's tough to process. Be genuinely kind to someone who isn't very kind to you. That's a challenge.
From passion to compassion
Here's where it all turns outward.
Compassion comes from the same root, joined with "with." It means to suffer with someone.
Passion asks what I'll endure. Compassion asks who I'll endure it with.
Compassion isn't feeling sorry for somebody from a comfortable distance. It's moving toward another person's pain and saying, "You don't have to carry this alone. I'm willing to enter this with you."
Passion without compassion can turn into self-centered achievement. But the hard things you've survived, the discipline you've built, the healing you've received - God can use all of it to help someone else endure what they're facing. That's how we become most equipped to serve the person we once were.
Paul ends that passage this way: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." We don't have to see the whole journey. We just stay close enough to take the next step.
Your One More Rep: endure something today
Here's your One More Rep. Go endure something today, even if it's small. Take the stairs. Take the long walk. Have the hard conversation. Keep one promise you made to yourself.
And while you're doing it, talk to God. Ask Him three questions:
- What am I passionate enough about to suffer for?
- Is there a passion I need to surrender instead of satisfy?
- Who could I carry something with this week?
You don't have to answer all three today. Just start.
You are worth it, and you have what it takes. God bless, and go do something hard today.
