To Be Passionate About Your Faith: A Teenager's Perspective
By Bernard Garrett Serota
Garrett Serota is a senior at Vestavia Hills High School in Birmingham, AL. He is a published poet and plans on majoring in creative writing. Garrett is a member at Edgewood Presbyterian Church.

Passion is defined as "any emotion or feeling as love, desire, anger, hate, fear, grief, joy, hope, etc., especially when of a powerful or compelling nature."

I have been told on several occasions that I am passionate about my faith. I never really thought about that until now. What does it really mean to be passionate about faith?

It seems almost demeaning to define passion as any strong emotion for something else. But what matters is not the intense emotion so much as the focus of it. This is the key to a passionate belief.

What do I believe on a personal level? I never really thought about being passionate about anything. I always viewed it about being alive, especially in faith. But if I am passionate, I could not imagine what it is to be impassionate, especially about this important matter. Faith in Christ should grow into a deep commitment, a certain driving force that is always pushing forward. I pray everyday to be stronger in my faith.

But one part of the definition is also true. Any emotion is amplified when paired with faith: you desire to be closer to God; you feel angry at Him for many things; you can hate parts of yourself that distance you from Him; you fear Him; the only thing to grieve about is your sin; joy is in everything; hope will always exist. You feel every emotion stronger and with clarity.

But if you're not passionate about your faith, I would devote a lot more time to it. To be dead in your faith is not a good thing. There is nothing in this world that is more deserving of your attention then Christ.

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