Whenever I see the word passion or passionate, I always think of the word love. When people have passion or love for something in their lives, I believe they desire something or it has interests for them. We all have some sort of passion that we truly desire in our lives, but first we have to make sure what is our first love. It could be money, drugs, or even sports that can be our first love. None of those three things or even anything can compare to the love that God has given us. God must be our first love! When God is no longer our first love in our lives, our leadership lives are in danger. It is so easy for Christian leaders to allow other things to become our first love. If we are going to be leaders in this world, then we must have passionate heart for God and for the sake of the Gospel. In Matthew 22:36 we see a lawyer asking a question to Jesus, which he was tempting or testing him, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus answered him and said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. In verse 37, Jesus says the second one is just like it, "Love your neighbor as yourself." What is Jesus saying here? He is saying that If you have love for the Father, you must have love for one another. Love your brethren just as Christ loved the Church. Love the Church just as Christ loved you. If you want to be a leader of Christ, then you must serve him daily and faithfully in your life. We need to make sure that God rules over our hearts so that they may beat passionately for him. When his glory is our joy, when our hearts beat with his, when he rules with no pain, we grow healthy as leaders.
This week I had bought a book called Playing with Purpose by Mike Yorkey. This book is about three certain quarterbacks that has already played college football. The players in this book include Sam Bradford from Oklahoma University, Tim Tebow from the University of Florida, and Colt McCoy from the University of Texas. Sportswriters called these three amazing quarterbacks the "Holy Trinity." I believe the author choose the title of this book, Playing with Purpose, is because all three of these Christian athletes were playing for something during their college days. Whether that might be a National Championship or a Heisman Trophy. These players were always hanging out and having fellowship with one another because they had God in their lives. They always gave back the glory to him each day they stepped on the field and they knew that without having passion for the game, they would not have the passion inside them to win the game. Sam, Tim, and Colt are leaders off the field and on the field. They will always be leaders inside and outside of the Church. Just like them, we must be leaders willing to lead from the inside out. If we are going to lead like Jesus, we must allow the dangerous power of love to fill our hearts. I know being a leader can be hard and scary sometimes, but with a passionate heart for God we can do all things through Christ who strengthen us. God calls us to do hard things in this world but we must live up to the hype of leading in his Church. Ask yourself this question before you start living a life of leadership, "What hard thing can I do today that will have an eternal impact for the sake of the gospel?" I want to challenge and encourage you to have a passionate heart so that you may lead from the inside out. I know its hard to live a life of leadership, but it only takes one step out of your comfort zone and you will be on your way of becoming a leader.
