I listened to a great message last night by Craig Groecshel concerning spiritual enthusiasm and I wanted to share the points that I absorbed the most.

1 Corinthians 15: 5-58 NLT

7 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

The message was titled “Get Your Passion Back”. I think there is an obvious reason why he felt this message needed to be preached. I know I have waned with my enthusiasm for the work of the Lord at times. I am sure at some point or another you have felt the same. Not only that, but just remembering “It’s not what you do, it’s who you do it for.”

“The word enthusiasm actually has an awesome meaning and origin. The word enthusiasm is derived from the roots en — in or within — and theos — God. It means having God within or being one with God. People with this gift carry a special kind of energy. They bring warmth and feeling to their relationships and vigor and freshness to their activities.”

There are two types of people:

  1. Those who let their circumstances influence their enthusiasm.
  2. Those who let their enthusiasm influence their circumstances.

Let’s look at some reasons why we lose our spiritual enthusiasm:

  1. We take our eyes off of our calling and put our focus on our own comfort/pleasure.
  2. We have a natural tendency to drift off toward complacency, sin, bad attitude, self loathing
  3. We lose sight of our “first LOVE” like Jesus tells the church in Revelation. The issue isn’t we lose it, we actually “forsake” it, which means it was our own personal choice.

Let’s end this with the positives, how do we develop and maintain our enthusiasm?

  1. Trust God daily.
  2. Walk with God daily.
  3. Worship God daily.

So, thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death, and we can work with enthusiasm knowing the work will never be done in vain!!!

with love, dlp

M.I.T.T.