Have you lost your Zeal?
Leadership lesson from Romans 12, have you lost your zeal?
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep up your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12- 9-13.
I looked up the word Zeal and Wikipedia gave me these descriptive words; fervent, ardent, devoted, diligent. The synonyms of Zeal are enthusiastic, eager, intense, passionate, warm, eager desire, showing strong and or energetic support.
I also looked up the word fervor and found much the same words in the definition; eager, enthusiasm and ardent. But one definition that was added to the word list were the words intense heat.
When I came on the words Zeal and Fervor my mind for what ever reason went to Christopher Robin adventures. Why? I don’t really know but there I was. His friend Eeyore is spinning around calling to his friends, “where is my tail? I can not find my tail, I lost my tail again, and life is never fair to me! Oh me, oh my!”
On the other hand there is Tigger, bouncing on his tail, enthusiastic, cheerful, and confident and of course never lost! He knew his way his way out of the big woods and was competitive in a friendly way. You wanted Tigger as your friend; I wanted Tigger as my friend. He is forever the positive, energetic; get it done Tigger we love!
So are you an Eeyore or a Tigger? I hope I can convince all of you to strive to be a Tigger in your work and in Life! It is a decision! You control your attitude. The Spirit within you will help you accomplish this goal. So if I were paraphrase verse 11 of Romans 12 it would sound like this, “Never be lacking in enthusiasm, devotion and be diligent keeping your spiritual fire burning red hot serving the Lord, our God!” Write it down; read it back as often as it takes to brandish that spirit of zeal in your heart, mind and attitude.
When Phyllis and I adopted our son Will, we traveled to Hong Kong and stayed at the YWCA like many before and after us. The room was adequate but not particularly large. The second night in the experience we were able to take Will back to the Hotel with us and they set up with a cot at the foot of our bed. Hong Kong weather was totally different than back home and Phyllis’ allergies set in hard, she felt miserable. We all went to bed and Will fell a sleep quickly. I could tell Phyllis was uncomfortable. In a small quiet voice she leaned into me and said, “Dirk, what did we do? What did we do?” At that moment I had a split second decision to make; be an Eeyore and sympathized with her or rise up and be a Tigger. The Holy Spirit had the answer ready for me, “Everything is going to be just fine, trust God’s lead. He won’t disappoint us! Then I held her and prayed with her. God is so good!