A Little Bit of Zeal Never Hurt Anyone

Zealousness has gotten a bad “wrap” throughout the ages, it seems to me. We get very uncomfortable when we are around people who are zealous. We think they’re crazy, insane, unreasonable, absentminded, annoying—or whatever other superlative we can come up with that we think somehow justifies our lukewarmness.

But the apostle Paul has something interesting thoughts on zeal—and one of those thoughts is found in Galatians 4:18. He writes, “But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always.” Seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? He declares that is actually “good to be zealous . . . always.” Of course, he sends out a word of caution to us as well: we are to be zealous in a “good thing.”

The Dictionary defines zeal as “fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.” And what better thing could we participate in than to be completely enthusiastic for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

Of course, we can be ever thankful that Christ was—and is—completely zealous and enthusiastic for us and our salvation. There is no double-mindedness or lukewarmness there for us. He is completely “sold out” for our wellbeing. And when we start to get a glimpse of that reality, that same zeal can’t help but be reproduced in our hearts for Him—and everyone else that He died for also.

So why not allow the Lord to give you a glimpse, a taste, a peek, of His zeal and love and sold-outedness for you? Amazing things will happen in your life. The word “boring” will never again be a part of your vocabulary! And, indeed, you will find yourself “zealous in a good thing always.”