Through the years, I noticed periodic fluctuations in my heart…and now, I’m feeling it again, especially since we’ve begun this journey together. My passion for the things I love—the desires and dreams God has planted in me to fulfill—are growing.

I pray that you are feeling this shift as well. Let’s see if we can stoke the fires of your God-given passion a bit more today.

All of us can find ourselves in that place where even what we say we love feels like a chore. There are times where they get heavy, and feel like an obligation rather than a joy. You know that place, where activity becomes have to’s rather than want to’s. Unfortunately, if these seasons last too long, we can find ourselves just existing rather than living.

The loss of passion for our hopes and desires happens because we get disconnected from what we were wired to do. Often times, we don’t even know it’s happening. Passion is birthed from what we love—from what God calls us to be. But sometimes, our fire burns down to smoldering embers when we forget who and whose we are. When our lives are described more by our pain and disappointments, our passion becomes unplugged from its source. That’s when our love for what we’ve been given begins to lose ground in our hearts. You know that place, that feeling, where everything you do is a must rather than a joy.

I’ve noticed over the last few days, as I disentangle my self-evaluation through the eyes of others, and see myself through the lens of God’s complete love for me, the deep dreams within are being released. They are finding ground in the depths of my heart.

Today, would you also hear God’s call to love what you’ve been given to love. Of course, at the center of our love is our love for God and for others, but flowing from that place is how we demonstrate that love. It takes on shape in all kinds of activity. It’s these things, no matter how small or large, that Jesus has given you a passion for. So first, and foremost, don’t discount what you do and what you bring to others—it’s God’s love in you doing it.

Believe what God has placed in you. You love what you love; you can’t help it. You were created for it. You love doing it, watching it, and achieving it. Whatever it is, God says love it again. Don’t see yourselves through the eyes of others. Don’t see yourself as limited or less than, just love what you love. Holy Spirit has filled you with gifts and talents that may or may not be recognized by others. Or perhaps, He has called you to stand in places no one else sees; but they’ve been given to you to accomplish things you cannot imagine.

I have to say it again, love what you’ve been given to love. Don’t make it a matter of success or popularity. Don’t make it a matter of a future income stream (although that would be a nice benefit 😉). All those motives will only increase the burden on your joy. What does the Word say, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” It’s God’s business who you become in the eyes of others, you only need to yield to what He’s given you to do.

And in that place of yielding, it will produce the harvest that God has already seen. Trust Him in the joy of your passion; you have nothing to prove!