LOVE… PASSION… SUFFERING
LOVE… PASSION… SUFFERING
We hear the word passion used a lot these days. We are encouraged by the 1000s of self-help career books and online blogs about ‘how to find your passion.’
It is a modern day scavenger hunt. Hundreds of online articles promise to help you find your passion in six steps, eight steps, four steps, etc.
We are so busy looking for our passion, have we ever stopped and considered what the word actually means?
Passion derives from the Latin passus – to suffer. It was used in Medieval Europe to describe the sufferings of a martyr. Martyrs underwent tremendous suffering before their inevitable death for their beliefs. They considered dying for their deep convictions an honor.
It would be hard to mention passion without love. The two are woven together. Passion is essentially the unstoppable fortitude of love.
We marvel at stories of people who persevere through great struggle to achieve their goal. Sometimes the struggle is abolishing slavery, blocking corrupt legislation, making a speech, working two jobs to send your kids to school, painstakingly researching a cure for a disease, or trying to understand advanced calculus. Their dedication reveals an extraordinary dedication for a higher principle than any material gain.
Christ exemplified the meaning embedded in the very heart of love and passion. The greatest passion belongs to Him – The Passion of Christ.
His passion was and still is for us. He suffered and died for the love of humanity.
King Solomon poetically captures the intensity of love/passion in the following verse:
SOS 8:6 … for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
I encourage you to reflect on Christ every time you hear the word passion. For the word is intertwined with Christ’s zest for humanity. Christ’s passion testifies of His love.
If you are searching for your own passion, I can’t give you a step-by-step guide on how to find it. However, in light of this word’s origins you can now ask a far more guided and thought provoking question. Ask yourself “For what am I willing to suffer and sacrifice my life for?”
