10 Ways to See if Your Zeal is the Real Deal…

James Cathcart September 20, 2024 7 4

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Galatians 4: 17-18 (NRSVA)

17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. 18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.

Our world, just like Galatia in the first century, is full of people zealous to make us zealous about things. Having care, passion, and zeal is no bad thing. But are we checking in with ourselves about what we are zealous for and how consistent we are in our enthusiasm?

Might be time for a vibe check.

It’s easy to be zealous for the latest fad/fix/fairytale. And it can be surprisingly hard to be zealous for a united world where all people can flourish together peacefully. We can feel in an abstract way that world peace is a good goal without feeling any zeal about it.

How to tell when our zeal is the real deal? Zeal by its very overwhelming nature can make it hard to maintain perspective. We are excited by this new thing/project/initiative/approach/solution. Our brains latch on to it. Something in human psychology helps us get a new idea over the line by pushing that bit harder on something quirky and different, shushing the parts of the brain that might be like, this feels questionable.

Humans are meant for one another! It’s the chemistry between our combined enthusiasm and caution that builds a sustainable community. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have an individual responsibility to check in with ourselves, to see how we feel about the things we have a zeal for.

So here’s a handful of questions we could ask ourselves in order to help get that perspective back.

10 Ways to See if Your Zeal is the Real Deal…

1: Does your zeal make you feel better about yourself, other people, and the world?

2: Does your zeal make you kinder and more compassionate, more selfless?

3: Does your zeal make others smile?

4: Does your zeal make you hopeful?

5: Does your zeal sometimes make you want to get up and dance?

6: … and sometimes sit down and have a good cry?

7: … and sometimes make you want to question everything?

8: Does your zeal chime with those you respect and admire?

9: Does your zeal have the gentleness to listen to others?

10: Does your zeal make you feel grateful?

Pray:

Dear God

Take our zeal

and make it the real deal.

Amen.