Purposeful Passion

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

There is always danger in the extremes. We know this instinctually. We know we have to maintain a balanced body temperature - not too hot, not too cold. We know we can't be too overweight or too underweight. Extremes can be dangerous. 

If you're like me, it's hard to remember extremes are dangerous when it comes to intangible things like passion and purpose. That's what I'm writing about today. Passion drives purpose, and purpose drives passion. If we lean too far to one and neglect the other, we're treading in dangerous places. 

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9 (above) that we are to run in pursuit of a prize - not just to run. We aren't called to run aimlessly. That's what it's like when we our passions aren't directed with purpose. Do you know those friends who have been madly in love for years, and years, and years... and everyone wonders when they're actually going to get married? That's passion without purpose. 

Some of the best advice I ever received was just before I asked my wife on our very first date. I sat down with Pastor Sonny who has a marriage I greatly respect. I told him about this girl I was crazy about. "I really think I love her. I want to ask her out. But I feel like I need to be sure there's something to this relationship - something more than cheap dates and gushy texts." The advice he gave me was huge for me: "You're passionate about her - now you need purpose." 

A week after that conversation I had worked up the guts to ask her out, and to do so with purpose. I was scared silly. We sat down at Dairy Queen for some ice cream and the words stuttered out of my mouth... I told her I really liked her and wanted to date her. But, I only wanted to date if our intentions were to take it seriously - to find out if one day we could get married. 

Talk about bold... Talking about marriage before she was even my girlfriend was terrifying. God blessed it though. I believe that our relationship lasted and became a wonderful marriage because our passion was directed with purpose. Having a purpose in mind helped to guide our passion to where we are today. 

Passion is terrible without purpose. It's like running in circles. Running in pursuit of a prize is what makes the run worthwhile. 

Passion without purpose is directionless, but purpose without passion is meaningless. Maybe you can relate to this... 

So often I feel like I'm running. Running to get this thing done, to go to that place, to accomplish this, to catch up on that... But here's the scariest part: if I look back on a month of running around without stopping to enjoy what I'm doing, I realize that what I've actually accomplished hasn't been very meaningful at all. 

When passion takes a backseat to purpose, urgency trumps importance and tasks overshadow people. Passion is the why for the what. What you do is meaningful because of why you do it. 

There's an old country song that says, "I'm in a hurry to get things done. Oh, I'm rushing, rushing 'til life's no fun... I'm in a hurry and don't know why." It's a country legend at this point. Songs become legendary for one of two reasons: the music is incredible or the lyrics are relatable. For this song, the former isn't exactly the case. 

We can probably all relate to those lyrics. That's what purpose without passion looks like. Ultimately a loss of passion results in a loss of meaning. 

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love." 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 MSG 

You may accomplish all kinds of great things, but if you don't love with those things, if you aren't passionate about the things God is passionate about, it's all completely useless.

This is the trap I fall into most often. I rarely have passion without purpose anymore. However, purpose with no passion is a deadly path I find myself on more often than I'd like to admit.

How about you? Do you find yourself in need of passion too? Or are you passionate and in need of purpose? Let me know in the comments.

Thankfully, when Jesus enters our lives He gives us a heart of passion and a heart of purpose. Leaning into His passions will help us find our purpose, and leaning into His purposes will help us find our passions.