It means pressing in to the hard things, not pulling away from them.

It means reminding yourself of why you’re passionate about it – over and over and over – especially when the world tries to knock it out of you.

It means that even when your stomach is twisted up in knots and you fear others’ criticism, you still fight for it.

It means that you let the tears flow and you feel the feels, but you cling to the belief that God called you to it for a reason.

It means not always fitting in with the status quo.

It means your life might look different than others.

It means you fight for that passion with all your might – mostly in your own heart when the flame might flicker and threaten to go out.

Passion – well, anyone might have fleeting bouts of passion for something they love.

But committed passion means you aim to continue pursuing that passion no matter what gets in your way.

It acknowledges that you’ll get tired. And discouraged. And maybe not always feel the passion.

But it’s a belief that goes so much deeper than a feeling. It’s a conviction, an outside-of-you commitment that knows there’s a greater purpose at stake here.

So it doesn’t give up. It keeps on persevering. It clings to the source of passion – Christ Himself, whose greatest passion was displayed upon the cross.

You might be thinking, “Wow, that sounds great. If only I had something I felt that strongly about.”

My guess is that you probably do, you just haven’t identified what it is yet or you haven’t allowed it to flourish in your life.

For example, I had this idea that I might like teaching, but I had no idea how much I would love it until I began teaching. Suddenly ideas began to explode in my head and creativity began to seep out of my pores until I knew that this was a job that I absolutely loved.

I also had zero idea that I was passionate about student leadership, until my boss literally dropped the position of HYPE Adviser into my lap – and then I began discovering all the things I was excited about with student leadership.

And then there were other things, such as being a voracious reader and loving to write, that had been with me since childhood, but I kind of ignored them as things I was actually passionate about. They were just things I loved to do. That I couldn’t live without doing. Hence the meaning of passion.

And of course, I didn’t know until my late twenties that I would become passionate about singleness, until I realized that that was what God wanted me to write a book about.

Sometimes we don’t realize what is most important to us until we go through a season of life where it becomes crystal clear what we love and want to pursue more of. Or maybe we’re in a season of life where we wish we could be doing something else that we were passionate about, not realizing that God wants us to develop our passion for what He’s placed right in front of us.

There are many times where I wish I could be pursuing my love of theater more actively – but the reality is that God wants me to keep growing in my passion for teaching at the moment. And there are times when I’d give anything to develop my passion for having a family of my own with a husband – but God has said no to that so that I can deepen my understanding of singleness.

So if you aren’t sure what God wants you to be passionate about, just know that sometimes we discover it along the way of what we’re already doing. And sometimes we do need to actively pursue something different if we believe that it will bring more glory to God. But we should never let that longing for the future goal displace the steady commitment to the current daily task God has asked us to do.

Because really, all the things I’m passionate about stem from my deepest passion for Christ being glorified in all that I do. I’m passionate about deepening my relationship with Him, because I know that when I do, I will discover His heart more and more – and in turn, I will be able to walk in a way that is close to His heartbeat for humanity.

Above all else, be passionate about God. And when you do, your life will begin to light up in colors that you previously hadn’t seen. He’ll show you opportunities you hadn’t dreamed of before. He will become more beautiful to you, and your life will become a sweet aroma to others.

And when the end of your life comes, you will know that it was well spent – because you laid your life down for a worthy passion.

Committed passion is never easy. But it’s the only way I want to live my life. Because it gives me a purpose every morning that I wake up to – and I know that I am doing exactly what God wants me to do with my life.

What peace and contentment come in that place of surrender and committed passion to God’s plan.