Soul Care 101 - Rekindling that passion

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:  These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.  I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.     Revelation 2:1-3

Wow, here in this passage, Jesus takes some time to praise the church at Ephesus.  At first glance, it sounds like the church had worked really hard and had fought the good fight.  With these great descriptions it would seem like the church was going in the right direction.  However let’s read further and see how Jesus continued to speak to the church at Ephesus:

 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.  Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  Revelation 2:4-5

All of the sudden, a switch was thrown and Jesus dropped the hammer on the church.   The church had done some great things in the kingdom, but they had lost their first love.  Their passion had diminished and they were just going through the motions.  Unfortunately, this passage totally described me a couple of years ago.  As I was traveling through the wilderness, I continued to do good things for the Lord, but had lost my own passion.  It’s important to take care of your soul.  Otherwise passion is one of the first casualties within your soul. 

So how do you rekindle lost passion???

Let’s start by defining passion.  The greatest mistake we can make is equating our good works with our salvation, as if we could earn God’s approval.  Our passion is directly linked to our relationship with the Lord.  If our walk with the Lord goes dry, so will our passions.  The two go hand in hand.  Do you remember when you first came to Christ?  The excitement?  How you wanted to share with everyone you knew?  Although we can be passionate about many different things, this is the passion I’m most concerned with – the passion of knowing Jesus and making Him known through our life.   So let’s look at 4 steps to regaining that passion.

Step 1 – Remember.  Throughout the Old Testament, God was constantly calling His people to remember.  To remember His Faithfulness, His miracles and His blessings.  As humans, we can so easily forget how good the Lord has been.  As we take time to remember, it will reveal God’s faithfulness and love for us.  Take some time to make a list and answer these questions:

            How has the Lord been faithful in your life?

When have you seen God move mightily in your life, your family, etc.?

What blessings has He given to you?

Step 2 – Continue to dig into God’s Word.  As life gets busy, this is one area that normally takes the hit.  As dry seasons come, it is important to continue to dig in, even when we do not feel like it.  God has promised that His Word will not return void.  He will use it in your life, especially when you least expect it.  When we stop digging into His Word, it separates us from knowing His many promises and from hearing from Him.  His Word is essential to regaining your passion.

Step 3 – Don’t stop fellowshipping with other believers.  Unfortunately in the American church, we have so watered this down from the Book of Acts.  This concept has become a little more than a “cookies and punch social”.  Fellowship described in the early church focused of doing life together.  They took time to encourage one another and carried each other’s burdens.  It is important that you have a group where you can drop your spiritual mask and be real.  Without this community, you will become more isolated.  Isolation will wreak havoc in spiritual life (check out my previous post about the dangers of isolation). 

Step 4 – Serve.  Not only are we commanded to serve within the body of Christ, but so many great things happen when we serve.  Don’t fall into the majority of  Christians who weekly choose to sit on the sidelines.  God has given all of us gifts, talents and resources to further His Kingdom.  Being used by God will help revive passion.

Soul care is important, otherwise you will loose your passion for Jesus.  Trust me, as I walked through the wilderness, I was just going through the motions.  I had lost my passion for the Lord.  You can be in church, in church leadership or a in crowd of believers and still be far from the Lord.  Jesus told the church of Ephesus to repent and to go back to doing the things they did at first – remembering, digging into His Word, fellowshipping with other believers and serving the Body. 

How is your passion?  If you had to rank it from 1 to 10 (1 being cold and 10 being hot), what would you rank your passion?  How are you doing in each of these steps?

Please let me know if there is any way I can help you work through these steps.  If you have lost your passion, I can say that it is possible to rekindle it.  I would love to say that it was easy and quick, but it wasn’t.  It was a lengthy process and would love to share with you more if you are interested.  Feel free to contact me at pastorjabo@gmail.com.