Does Passion Breed Discontent?

I believe with all of my heart that the Lord places talents and gifts and desires that lead to passions in our life for a purpose, but recently I was having a conversation with a good friend and the idea of being a passionate person came up. She asked me if I thought that I was a passionate person. She'd always thought that she was a passionate person, but recently she was wondering if she was, or what it meant to be passionate.

So, first off, what does it mean to be passionate? Well, the dictionary defines passionate as 'capable of, affected by, or expressing intense feeling. So, in our case, being passionate should be thought of as the singular desire to be physically, mentally, and even spiritually driven by an idea, a goal, or a person. This is where the question comes in, "does passion breed discontent?"

Is true contentedness possible in our lives as Christians? If in no other area of my life, I am called to be in a passionate relationship with Jesus Christ. The goal and hope in this relationship is that, in my passion for Christ, I will earnestly seek to know Him more all of the time. As Christ is unknowable, in his entirety, this should be a relentless pursuit, with every discovery of truth and fulfilled promise sparking in me a desire to learn more, to love more, and to know more of my Savior. Therefore, my passionate love for Christ will, or should, always create in me a desire for a more vibrant and dynamic relationship. I should never settle with how much I know, but rather push on to know more.

When it comes down to it, when it comes to spiritual things, maybe contentedness is the wrong word. I believe that I am able to be content in where the Lord has me on any given day. If I am seeking after the Lord and His will for my life, I need to trust the Lord and rest in the truth that he has a plan for my life, to prosper me, and give me a hope and a future. The danger grows when we begin to be complacent in our walk with the Lord. Complacency lets us stagnate in the spot where we were, to rely on past lessons, our church involvement and the knowledge we have, rather than the pursuit of Christ-likeness. Passionate love of Jesus Christ should put us in a place where we want Christ's best for our lives and we are actively seeking after that best (Matt 6:25-34)!

I argue that feelings of passion toward an earthly goal or the development of a talent or love are always going to disappoint in the end. It may even be a way to avoid where our passions should truly lie. If we are passionate about Christ, then our earthly pursuits should always be tied to our spiritual pursuits. Passionate diligence in reaching an earthly goal will not be fulfilling in the end, however, that same pursuit, of the same goal with a heavenly perspective will always be fulfilling. A love of some thing or talent or goal needs to be informed by our love of Jesus Christ and what He wants us to do with it. Only then, will our passions leave us in a place that we can be completely content, and only because Christ is the fulfilling presence in our lives.