Cultivating Passion for Jesus
by Jason Carr
I’m unashamedly a hopeless romantic. I was a kid when I first watched Dead Poet’s Society, and I still remember how I felt afterward (“Carpe Diem,” anyone?). It’s this longing to live a full and authentic life that has drawn me to certain movies, books, and messages over the years.
Last night, that same longing resurfaced as I watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with my family—a longing for more: more beauty, more purpose, more passionate pursuit, and less autopiloting my life away. It’s a longing I’ve felt many times before, and one that always points me toward something—or Someone—greater. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “All beauties, whether in nature or art, in physics or morals, in composition or abstract reasoning, are multiplied reflections, visible in different distances under different positions, of one archetypal beauty.” Her words resonate deeply with me because they point to what I’ve come to know: all earthly beauty reflects the ultimate, divine beauty of Jesus.
I was sitting in a crowd at Passion’s One Day conference when this coalesced for me. John Piper called a generation to make the most of their lives for the gospel: “You only have one life; don’t waste it.” By the grace of God, that message changed me (as it did for thousands) and awakened in me a drive to pour myself out for Jesus.
Yet not everyone shares this vision of a life fueled by enduring passion, even among those who follow Christ. Shortly into my freshman year, a well-intended friend told me, “Part of spiritual maturity is that we lose some of our passion as we get older.” I disagreed then, and I disagree now. I refuse to believe the Christian life is marked by heightened joy at salvation followed by a slow, steady decline into survival mode. Sure, there are dry seasons, and seasons of hanging on for dear life, but those seasons can’t define our faith.
What I see in the apostles—and in so many of the saints throughout church history—isn’t a faith of decline, but one of vibrancy and enduring passion. Jesus himself says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
When Passion Fades
Yet as I write this, I must admit life has a way of slowly eroding our passions, leaving us feeling like a shadow of our former selves, and this is a dangerous place to find yourself. In the movie, Braveheart, Robert the Bruce’s father—deformed by leprosy—states it plainly, “All men betray, all men lose heart.”
Did you notice that? He connects the idea of losing heart to betrayal. I believe he’s right.
This line from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, All the Pretty Horses, conveys a similar sentiment: “That it was always himself that the coward abandoned first. After this all other betrayals came easily.”
The formula goes like this: loss of passion leads to loss of self leads to all sorts of evils.
This same loss of passion—and betrayal of oneself—finds a tragic parallel in the story of King David: “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle… David remained at Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1).”
By staying home, David abandoned his kingly purpose, creating space for sin to take root. What follows is David’s affair with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband). When passion wanes, we lose heart, abandon our purpose, and create space for sin to flourish. David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51 further drives home this point. In verse 12, David prays, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
David’s sin was a symptom, not the disease. He faltered because his joy in God had waned. And without fullness of joy and gladness in Christ, we also will waver and become susceptible to sin. If only we had a “check soul” light to alert us when our joy in salvation wanes.
Reigniting Joy
So, how do we keep our passion from fading? How do we reignite the joy of our salvation when life feels dry? The answer isn’t in waiting for passion to return but in showing up daily through spiritual disciplines. Because there will be many days that I wake up and don’t feel like much of a Christian; days that I don’t want to pray, that I don’t want to talk to people about Jesus. But it is backwards to wait for feelings to produce actions. Instead, we act, and this produces (by the grace of God) joyful stability.
This is what the spiritual disciplines are all about. These are the daily practices that keep us attuned to the states of our hearts and help us to access what’s already ours in Christ. Don’t be confused, it’s only God’s grace and not our efforts that produce anything of value. But if the Holy Spirit is like a fire, the spiritual disciplines are like logs on this fire. To wake up each day and pray, read the Bible, practice silence and solitude, is to add fuel to the fire in hopes that something catches; in hopes that we burn brighter. The bright and burning saints throughout church history are the ones that show up consistently.
Perhaps if David, in simple obedience, was where he was supposed to be, he would have rediscovered his passion and the joy of his salvation. But we’ll never know. What we do know is he certainly wouldn’t have been able to spot Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop while at war.
If you find yourself in the vulnerable place of joyless faith, what’s next? Attempting spiritual disciplines in a dry season can feel especially daunting, yet this is when we need them most. The disciplines can anchor us when we feel adrift, but they likely won’t just happen. The best place to start is with a simple, actionable plan. You can’t program your life with God, but you can take hold of the time-tested means of grace as a lifeline.
Here’s what I do when I feel the joy of my salvation dwindling. Try taking one or two to practice regularly in the coming weeks.
Dive Into the Gospels: Rediscover Jesus - It doesn’t matter which one. Aim for the red letters. The life of Jesus will always strengthen you.
Daily Wisdom from Proverbs - There is a Proverb for each day of the month. Read slowly and ask the Holy Spirit to highlight a verse to carry with you throughout your day.
Pray with the Psalms - Talk to God about your life, your problems. Be honest. Ask God your real questions. When words feel hard to find, try using the Psalms as a guide. Make the psalmist’s words your own.
Step Outside for Silence and Solitude - Go for a walk without distractions. Put the phone away. Often it’s not that God isn’t speaking to us, but that we have the volume turned up on everything else in our life but God.
Create a plan that promotes consistency in your spiritual life: Daily prayer and Bible study, weekly moments of silence and solitude, confession and accountability with a trusted friend, etc… If you don’t make a plan for your time, someone, or something else will. Again, choose one practice, come to it consistently, humbly, and in your full humanity for a while, and ask God to restore His joy to you. Then try another one.
Each of these practices is designed to remind us of the gospel truth: that we are loved, redeemed, and called to a life of joy in Christ. They aren’t about striving, but about resting in what God has already done.
As we cultivate these practices, we find the strength to keep going—not in our own power, but by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the source of our joy and endurance.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:1-3).