Passion- The Heart Beat of a Man
Boys have dreams. Men have passions. If I am to be a real man then I must have a life of passion. What does that mean though? If you read the bible verses like 1 Peter 1:14 may spring to mind. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance”. Or James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions”. This may leave Christians sitting there wanting to rebuke me. But the thing these verses also show is that when we have a passion it will drive us. It’s not the presence of passion God is warning about. He is warning about the direction of that passion.
Without passion a man will start coasting. He will begin to “phone it in” and will become an empty husk of what he once was. Passion is what makes a man get out of bed in the morning. Passion is what keeps him working for success when he is tired. Passion is the heart beat of the inner man. And just like if our physical heart stops beating if a man has no passion who he is on the inside will die.
If we take a look at the people who changed the world, what do they all have in common? They all had passion. For men especially this is important to know. Because a boy will dream of what he wants. He may dream of a new toy, hitting the game winning shot, becoming a super hero, or defeating the evil villain. As an adult you may still be a boy because all you do is dream. You dream of a better job. You dream of your wife wanting you more. You dream of a better car. You dream of better relationships with your kids. The difference between being a man is passion. Let me write those same statements for a man. A man is passionate about advancing his career. A man is passionate about making his wife desire him. A man is passionate about getting a better car. A man is passionate about growing his relationship with his kids.
Simply by changing that little word you saw a different scenario. Why is that? Because we all know but don’t want to admit that a man without passion is dead inside. He is unmotivated, forgetful, and never sees success. Why? Because he doesn’t have the inner strength to keep going when it gets hard. And it will get hard. Want to improve your job and career? You are going to have to work hard and improve your skill set. You are going to have to compete with other people that want those positions. Want your wife to desire you more? Trust me sitting on the couch eating Cheetos or playing video games is not going to make her want you. You are going to have to keep doing things to show her how much she means to you. Want a new car? It’s not going to magically appear in your driveway. Want a better relationship with your kids? You have to meet them where they are. You have to give up your own time and make time for them. In the dream world these things happen on their own. In the real world you need passion to motivate you to do them.
If you have no passion then you will sit and do nothing. And because you do nothing you will get nothing. As you get nothing you will start to harbor resentment, anger, doubt, and shame. You will begin to feel empty. After some time the shell of who you are is going through the motions and the man inside is dead.
One scripture that I heard a lot was Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” More times than not it was in a sermon speaking about how God will bless you and give you things as you are faithful to him. I disagree with that interpretation of that verse. Why you may ask? Because of the rest of the chapter that it’s in. Psalm 37 speaks of the Lord protecting the righteous, and the evil ones coming to ruin. In verse 16 it even says “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.” The chapter it’s in reveals that the wicked may have more but what the righteous has is better. So what did God say in verse 4 that he would give the righteous? The desires of their heart. Not what they desire IN their heart but the actual desires themselves. The passions that they pursue. The things that will drive them. The motivations that they have from God himself. And because those passions are from God there is success, contentment, and fulfillment. Then God gives more desires and passions and the man keeps growing and seeing victory.
Today you may be sitting on the sideline of your life dreaming about what you want. I would encourage you to ask the Lord to give you the desires of your heart. To give you a passion instead of a dream. Find your passion in life and start to move past being the boy and become the man that you want to be and God knows you can be.
