Violence or Passion

How many of you have heard this expression: "the violence of my affections"... This morning when I really thought about that statement, it didn't sit well within my heart. I know what it means in the context of this statement, however, when you look at both definitions of the word violence, it's not good either way. The first definition: behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. The second definition: strength of emotion or an unpleasant or destructive natural force. Both of these definitions imply that the word has negative connotations to it. After thinking about this, my first thought was: that's not how God's love is! Most people think of fear, brutality, and death when violence is mentioned. 1 John 4:18 says this: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out all fear." When you look at the Bible's definition of love, you can see the clear differences. For example, you can see in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that it describes love as "not easily angered." When you go down to verse 7, it says that "love always protects..." whereas the word violence insinuates the opposite: full of anger and danger. Now, I want you all to think about this: there is another word that describes depth and intensity of emotion. Can anyone guess what that is?

Passion. Most people when they think of the word passion, they think of romance or someone who is very enthusiastic about their job, hobbies, etc. There really isn't any negative connotations to this word, and I will tell you why. Here are the two definitions of passion. The first is: strong and barely controllable emotion. The second is: the suffering and death of Jesus. Think about that! I want you to think about what that really means. To one who doesn't understand why Jesus died in the cross for our sins, they would look at that second definition and say that it has so many negative connotations. "Jesus died, so how is that a good thing?" I will tell you why! Because Jesus endured through the VIOLENCE and death to save us from the same eternal suffering! It was one horrible moment in time for Him that would save us all from an eternal suffering of that same magnitude! John 15:13 says that there is NO GREATER love than to lay down one's life for a friend.

So HERE is the difference between these two words: though both entail suffering, VIOLENCE IS death! It is in the present and it seeks to steal, kill, and destroy! PASSION WAS the death that brought us EVERLASTING LIFE! John3:16- "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."