PASSION POINTERS
1. What comes naturally? What flows out of you without effort? Do you find yourself engaging in discourses or practices in particular fields of endeavour, in which though not trained, you always come out on top? For instance, are you someone who designs your own clothes which always become the centre of attraction? You call it your hobby. Probably you find yourself always waking up with tunes, writing lyrics, poems, or stories in spite of the fact that you have no formal training in those fields. Your passion may just be calling your attention. Be wise. Heed to its voice. One interesting thing I realized about the sons of Lamech – Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain [Genesis 4:19-22] is that all their names have a common root meaning to flow as a stream. Their gifts simply oozed out of them effortlessly. It came naturally to them. Probably by these names and the outcome of their lives, God may be teaching us the lesson of following the natural flow of our lives if we are to make significant impact in our endeavours. Shakti Gawain, a human potential teacher commented thus, “We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other people’s models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open”. That “natural channel” is that of passion.
2. I just want to be where you are: which fields of endeavour irresistibly draws and holds your attention? In addition, do you always shine when you put your hands to do those things that put your soul on fire? Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong of the United States, after winning a record sixth consecutive title in 2004, said, “I am not in it for the money, fame... I am in it because I love it”.
3. Star struck: Do people look at you and treat you like one of the ‘stars’ when you participate in some activities? Remember a man’s gift will always make him shine or stand out of the crowd . However, the gift can only be fuelled or powered by passion if you are to excel.
4. Surprise, surprise! Is there something you love to do, that always amazes people? Do you do things, which sometimes surprise even the people close to you? Even in unfavourable environments, are you able to repeat those performances?
5. For better or for worse: Are you willing to live and die for this? Do you enjoy doing it even though it is difficult for others? Would you still do this if the payment you receive for it were reduced? At the end of the day, passion is primarily not about money and fame. Money may be a by-product of passion, but that is not what this book is about. It is a fiery love of something and the joys that go with it. It is about the sense of fulfilment that passion brings.
6. No drudgery here: Do you enjoy what others consider drudgery in that field of endeavour? American essayist Logan Pearsall Smith said, “The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves”. Every form of pursuit contains some amount of drudgery. If you enjoy the drudgery, you can live with it forever. In a sense, your passion is like your husband or wife. If you can live with each other’s shortcomings and faults, it can be forever.
7. Out of the abundance of the heart : What do you talk about most? It excites your heart, occupies your waking thoughts and imaginations, giving you pictures of what could be, and it is the first on your lips. It is a pointer to your passion. For those of us who are Christians, we need to find out what service or ministry in the church we love talking about. What are we so concerned and enthusiastic about in church? It could be the music, ushering, teaching, giving or praying. Move to that department in the church and begin to let your passion run. That is how to progress in Christian service.
8. Labour of love: You serve what you love. Jacob served seven years for Rachel. The Bible records that the seven years looked like a few days for Jacob . When you are in the company of someone dear to you, or doing something you enjoy, time really flies. Renowned scientist and inventor Thomas Edison spent thousands of hours experimenting before he made his discoveries. He never saw it as drudgery and so he worked for days on end, sometimes without food. To him it was service of love for the advancement of humanity.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, served humanity and in the course of service gave His life as a seed to God to multiply in us . In the course of service, you plant seeds that multiply and bring you prosperity and happiness. What you love to serve most may be your passion and your source of fulfilment.
9. Where did he learn this? As a parent, you may ask yourself “Do I find my child sometimes doing things that make me wonder where he learnt it from”? In addition, “Are those things she does constantly being inexplicably repeated”? Swiss philosopher and poet, Henri Frederic Amiel, once said “The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes”. For all you know the child may just be pointing to the ‘script’ he is carrying to play out in life - where his passion or his seed lies. Recognising and developing this would save the child a lot of misery in life.
10. What makes him tick? Do you or others sometimes comment that your child is ‘mad’ or ‘crazy’ about a particular thing? They could be crazy about playing the keyboard or guitar, kicking a football around half the day, or making little dresses for dolls at a very tender age. What you are seeing is comparable to a precious uncut and unpolished jewel such as a diamond attempting to shine through the surrounding mud. Your responsibility here is to guide gently your child to polish what God has put in him until he picks up a fire of his own.
Never make the mistake of suppressing what you do not understand. The child may forever be frustrated in life. I have heard a few stories like that and they are not pleasant. A few have even gone mental through the frustration of not being able to express what they feel within. French philosopher François Marie Arouet, a.k.a. Voltaire, said, “Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel”.
11. Do you have a gift or talent in that discipline? Gifts and talents are the fuel for the fires of passion. Passion will give wings to your gifts and talents and cause you to excel. Noted author John Maxwell wrote; “Human beings are so made that whenever anything fires the soul, impossibilities vanish. A fire in your life lifts everything in your life. That’s why passionate leaders are so effective. A leader with great passion and few skills always outperforms a leader with great skills and no passion”. From this statement, we can adduce that if you cannot live with the drudgery of your occupation, it cannot light a fire in you, so you will not be passionate about it. Hence, you will not be able to perform creditably no matter the external motivation your employers try to give you.
A sense of duty, obligation or guilt is poor fuel for getting things done because they will not give you the requisite inner strength to surmount the challenges your projects present. It may be you do not have the gifts, talents and passion for it. Make a move. Begin to discover, develop and deploy your passion.
12. What sparks a fire in you and releases your latent energies? What you love to do will spark a fire in your soul. American psychologist and philosopher Professor William James said, “Fire is burning passion”. If that fire really burns in your life, it will set your wheels aflame and cause you to do something.
13. Enthusiasm – a sure sign of passion. The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek adjective ‘entheos’, meaning, “Having the god within”. Though of pagan roots, this explanation clearly helps us to locate our passion. It is formed from en-, “in, within,” and theos, “god.” Your enthusiasm is therefore an indicator of the passion God has deposited in you. You can know your passion by the level of enthusiasm you have for something. For a footballer like Pele of Brazil, we may say that God’s natural grace was in his feet. For others, God’s natural grace may be in their hands or voice. In an organizational or church setting, if you want to locate which vessels God will use to advance the work in various departments, look for those who are enthusiastic. With a little knowledge through targeted training, they will excel in what they do.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
DISCOVERING PASSION
This piece will hopefully help us to discover the passion God placed in each of us.
Discovering Passion
By the age of twenty, any young man should know whether or not he is to be a specialist and just where his tastes lie. By postponing the question, we have set on immaturity a premium which controls most American personality to its deathbed. - Robert S. Hillyer.
CHAPTER 3
Discovering your Passion
I read this commentary from a Christian devotional :
“Do you want to discover your God-given assignment? Listen to your heart! Though there are over six billion people on earth, nobody has a heartbeat exactly like yours. In the same way, God has given you an emotional heartbeat that races when you think about certain subjects and activities. You care more instinctively about certain things than others. These are clues to where you should be serving. Don’t ignore them.
God wants you to serve him passionately, not half-heartedly. “Serve Him with all your heart’’ (Deut. 11:13). We rarely excel at things we do not feel passionate about. Listening for your inner promptings can lead you to the ministry God intends you to have.
One telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do, nobody has to motivate you, check up on you, applaud you or reward you; you do it for sheer enjoyment. The highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.
Don’t waste your life doing something that does not express your heart. Meaning is far more important than money. Ultimately, money doesn’t satisfy. What’s the point of having a lot to live on, if you have nothing to live for”?
Passion has an Object
From the earlier definition of passion and the above quotation, we realize that there is usually an object of your passion. Passion always has some object as its focus. This object usually carries or points you to the ‘seed’ of your life. Your passion throws light on your seed. Scripture reveals that for multiplication and fruitfulness to take place in God’s creation, God placed a seed in the plants He made.
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good”. Gen. 1:11-12 [Emphasis added]
The same applies to us. We all have our seed within us. To benefit from it, you need to discover and invest time, effort and resources in that seed. To discover your passion and hence, your seed, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
Where Is Your Treasure?
Many of us spend all our lives trying to find out what will bring us prosperity and fulfilment. In the book of Matthew in the Bible Jesus gave us a pointer:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21 [Emphasis added]
The word “treasure” means ‘deposit’ or ‘wealth’. So, the basic question we need to ask if we want to possess the deposits of God in our lives is “Where is my heart”? “What am I always dreaming of” or “what is it for which l love to spend my time and be spent”.
For instance, most people who become musicians often find themselves drawn to musical instruments and musical groups in their youth when their parents expect them to be studying some other subjects. They find themselves creating songs or writing poems without any formal training. They put their whole life into their music and get totally lost in it. Sometimes, they even escape the watchful eyes of disagreeable parents in order to pursue their passion. If you find yourself behaving like this in any endeavour, it is a pointer to where your heart may be. Surely, you will find “treasure” or God’s deposit in your life in that endeavour. You have treasure hidden in that field (Matt. 13:4). That field is your own life. Go ahead and buy it - follow your heart. Treasure may not necessarily mean a lot of money. It may be a fully satisfied life - that says, “I am doing what I love with my life, and I am fully satisfied with myself”.
What is God’s bounty in your life?
The poorest of people are still sitting by their “acres of diamonds”. All they need is the wisdom of God to tap into their seed and bring that seed to the place of multiplication. There is a linkage between that seed, their passion and purpose in this life. Their gifts and talents point to that seed. God is a just God. He is not partial in anyway . He gives every person born into this world the basic gifts and talents – tools needed to succeed in life. As in the parable of the pounds , God has given to each person something to work with in this life. We see an example of the bounty of God in the life of Lamech, the first polygamist in the Bible . This short summary of Lamech’s family shows us the variety of talent and ability God gives humans. With no recorded training of any sort, and in spite of the fact that he is the first person to violate monogamy in marriage, Lamech’s family was blessed with industrialists: they had a herdsman or ranch owner called Jabal; a musician and inventor called Jubal, and a metallurgist cum fabricator called Tubal-Cain. With their passion for their gifts and talents, there is no way misery and poverty could reign in their family. I believe that out of the bounty of God, every family has such a wealth of talent and even more waiting to be tapped. Once you recognize and use them, you and your family cannot be poor. Passion for your gifts and talents is the key. Another lesson from Lamech’s story is that being righteous does not automatically qualify you to be successful in all the issues of life. It depends on how you take advantage of God’s bounty in your life.
Discovering Passion
By the age of twenty, any young man should know whether or not he is to be a specialist and just where his tastes lie. By postponing the question, we have set on immaturity a premium which controls most American personality to its deathbed. - Robert S. Hillyer.
CHAPTER 3
Discovering your Passion
I read this commentary from a Christian devotional :
“Do you want to discover your God-given assignment? Listen to your heart! Though there are over six billion people on earth, nobody has a heartbeat exactly like yours. In the same way, God has given you an emotional heartbeat that races when you think about certain subjects and activities. You care more instinctively about certain things than others. These are clues to where you should be serving. Don’t ignore them.
God wants you to serve him passionately, not half-heartedly. “Serve Him with all your heart’’ (Deut. 11:13). We rarely excel at things we do not feel passionate about. Listening for your inner promptings can lead you to the ministry God intends you to have.
One telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do, nobody has to motivate you, check up on you, applaud you or reward you; you do it for sheer enjoyment. The highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.
Don’t waste your life doing something that does not express your heart. Meaning is far more important than money. Ultimately, money doesn’t satisfy. What’s the point of having a lot to live on, if you have nothing to live for”?
Passion has an Object
From the earlier definition of passion and the above quotation, we realize that there is usually an object of your passion. Passion always has some object as its focus. This object usually carries or points you to the ‘seed’ of your life. Your passion throws light on your seed. Scripture reveals that for multiplication and fruitfulness to take place in God’s creation, God placed a seed in the plants He made.
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good”. Gen. 1:11-12 [Emphasis added]
The same applies to us. We all have our seed within us. To benefit from it, you need to discover and invest time, effort and resources in that seed. To discover your passion and hence, your seed, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
Where Is Your Treasure?
Many of us spend all our lives trying to find out what will bring us prosperity and fulfilment. In the book of Matthew in the Bible Jesus gave us a pointer:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21 [Emphasis added]
The word “treasure” means ‘deposit’ or ‘wealth’. So, the basic question we need to ask if we want to possess the deposits of God in our lives is “Where is my heart”? “What am I always dreaming of” or “what is it for which l love to spend my time and be spent”.
For instance, most people who become musicians often find themselves drawn to musical instruments and musical groups in their youth when their parents expect them to be studying some other subjects. They find themselves creating songs or writing poems without any formal training. They put their whole life into their music and get totally lost in it. Sometimes, they even escape the watchful eyes of disagreeable parents in order to pursue their passion. If you find yourself behaving like this in any endeavour, it is a pointer to where your heart may be. Surely, you will find “treasure” or God’s deposit in your life in that endeavour. You have treasure hidden in that field (Matt. 13:4). That field is your own life. Go ahead and buy it - follow your heart. Treasure may not necessarily mean a lot of money. It may be a fully satisfied life - that says, “I am doing what I love with my life, and I am fully satisfied with myself”.
What is God’s bounty in your life?
The poorest of people are still sitting by their “acres of diamonds”. All they need is the wisdom of God to tap into their seed and bring that seed to the place of multiplication. There is a linkage between that seed, their passion and purpose in this life. Their gifts and talents point to that seed. God is a just God. He is not partial in anyway . He gives every person born into this world the basic gifts and talents – tools needed to succeed in life. As in the parable of the pounds , God has given to each person something to work with in this life. We see an example of the bounty of God in the life of Lamech, the first polygamist in the Bible . This short summary of Lamech’s family shows us the variety of talent and ability God gives humans. With no recorded training of any sort, and in spite of the fact that he is the first person to violate monogamy in marriage, Lamech’s family was blessed with industrialists: they had a herdsman or ranch owner called Jabal; a musician and inventor called Jubal, and a metallurgist cum fabricator called Tubal-Cain. With their passion for their gifts and talents, there is no way misery and poverty could reign in their family. I believe that out of the bounty of God, every family has such a wealth of talent and even more waiting to be tapped. Once you recognize and use them, you and your family cannot be poor. Passion for your gifts and talents is the key. Another lesson from Lamech’s story is that being righteous does not automatically qualify you to be successful in all the issues of life. It depends on how you take advantage of God’s bounty in your life.
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