passion.

//passion [pash-uhn] - noun. ::any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate; a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything:.



tonight i practiced. and practiced. and practiced. then i took a 2 minute break and i practiced some more. but i felt like i wasn't getting anywhere. i kept shooting, dribbling, pivoting, all that basketball stuff, but i still felt like i was at the same level. after an hour and a half of practice, i didn't feel more confident. i didn't feel more improved. i didn't feel more like a basketball player. i felt like a failure.
but i learned an important lesson tonight. i found out that sure, i was practicing, but i wasn't doing it with the same passion that i had in a game. i was throwing the ball up, bouncing it on the pavement, moving my feet, but i just did it so carelessly. and if you don't practice with passion then you won't be any better, because passion is what makes you want to be better. passion is your love for the game. you're enthusiasm for what you're doing. passion is the thing that makes you practice out there in the rain, snow, hail, scorching heat, and even when there's a high school musical marathon on, you're practicing because you love it!!!!!
i lost my passion for the game while i was practicing. and then i got frustrated with myself. i started to quit on myself. but a wise friend of mine told me not to let the winner inside of me quit. as he walked away, i picked up the ball and started to shoot, with passion. i love it.
just starting to realize how cheesy and inspirational movieish that sounds so i'll get to the point.

sometimes we lose our passion for JESUS. we lose the enthusiasm, zeal, and love for our GOD. our SAVIOR. the one who even after we fail to make it in the basket, HE never quits on us. it's so easy for us all to forget just how much HE loves us, even though we don't deserve it. we don't return it. we don't even always acknowledge it. but HE does it anyway. i want my passion to be for HIM.