143. Be Passionate! — Aneel Aranha

Hello and welcome to The Hope Podcast. I’m Aneel Aranha. Today, we will talk about how we need to be passionate people if we want to do great things!

Have you realized that you are most drawn to passionate people? Regardless of the industry they belong to—business, entertainment, politics, or spirituality—passionate people inspire us. They make our hearts beat faster, make our spirits soar, and make us feel alive. 

We can also be passionate people, not necessarily to draw people to us, but because it is how we should live. Besides, God likes passionate people. On one occasion, he said: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:15-16). Ouch!

So, how do we go about becoming passionate? Here are five ways to get you started. 

Be enthusiastic about everything! It is easy to be enthusiastic about the rare few momentous things that happen to us — like getting married! — but we must be enthusiastic about even mundane things — like keeping the house clean.

Persevere, no matter what obstacles you face! When everything runs smoothly, we can zoom through life on rollerblades. However, we need to look at challenges as a way to improve our rollerblading skills. Develop the attitude that says: Ok, bring it on!

Have laser vision! Most people want to achieve everything and consequently achieve nothing. We must be so focused on our goal that nothing can divert our attention. Of course, we will seem obsessive to others, but that's a sign of a passionate person.

Be confident! We will always be nervous when we start a new thing. However, we should have realized by now that we can eventually master anything! So be confident that you will achieve whatever you set out to do. 

Trust in God and his plans for you! Nothing and nobody can stop us from achieving God's plans for us — except us. We can either believe we are ordinary people destined for nothing great. Or we can believe we are extraordinary children of an extraordinary God. If this truth cannot make us burn with passion, nothing will.
 
God bless you.