SPIRITUAL ZEAL

Spiritual Zeal



Let us define zeal:

To have zeal means to be enthusiastically devoted to a cause, ideal or a goal.

To be zealous means to be filled with, or motivated by zeal, to be fervent.

Then, you can be a zealot, one who is zealous, esp. one who is fanatically devoted to a cause.

This definitely defines the original church and its members!

Fact: At Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of a tongue of fire

Zeal is proof that you are actively in a relationship with Christ, eager to serve him, it also means that you are seeking the truths in his Holy Word The Bible. Zeal can come with or without knowledge, it is important for Christians to have zeal and have knowledge. You can be zealous over the wrong things if you are misinformed- that can cost you eternity!
Lets read Numbers 25:13:
“ In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.”

As you see in the scripture above the right kind of zeal can literally save your life and earn you blessings!
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As we’ve already established zeal without knowledge is not good as stated in Proverbs 19: 2:

“Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good;
haste makes mistakes.”

Enthusiasm means the same thing as zeal and without knowledge enthusiasm is no good! We as Christians are not to rush into the unknown, we are to make sure that we know exactly what we are getting into, and that whatever we are getting into is in line with God’s word!

Key Point: Zeal is no good without knowledge!

Proper zeal can be very beneficial for many reasons one reason why zeal is important is because it can turn negatives into positives, such as, our anger. Turn to John 2:17.
It reads:

“Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”

Jesus was offended by the blatant disrespect of his father’s house. He was justifiably angry but he did not act out in a sinful way, he just made a point…We must allow our zeal for God to channel negative situations into positive ones to bring God glory. The next time that you get angry don’t sin, do something positive about the situation that would please God!

We must make sure that our zeal is not misdirected in any ways so that we do not bring shame upon ourselves or God! Romans 10:2-3 tells us not to have misdirected zeal and it warns us to live in knowledge as stated above. We are given self will by God- it is up to us how we use it. When we misdirect our zeal because of a lack of knowledge then we have served God uselessly, he doesn’t acknowledge our service to him. We want to be acknowledged by God so let us study his word and worship and live as he tells us to, not how we want.

Key Point: Serving God how we want to will get us no where with God!

Let’s read Romans 12:11, this is a very important point to leave our study with-God doesn’t just tell us to have zeal but with knowledge. He tells us the knowledge that we are to carry with us! What a awesome God, not only does he tell us what to do- he gives us the instructions to do it right…AMEN!

“Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”

He tells us to never be lazy, but be hard working. And he tells us that we should do those things for him enthusiastically. That means that in everything that we do- home, church,
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Work, socially, whatever- wherever, we are to do it for him enthusiastically. Why do you think that God would be mad is we were lazy, and didn’t work hard at what we did?
If that was our personality and we called ourselves Christians then we would be putting God to open shame. Christians should do the opposite because we have the knowledge of victory so we know our work is never in vain and that should show in our attitudes wherever we are. Having that positive Christian attitude will draw others to you and give you opportunities to witness to people about the reason for your zeal!

Remember the Lord says (Gal 4:18) for us to “Do Good All the Time!”

Key Point: Don’t miss out on an opportunity to evangelize by carrying a bad attitude!

Questions

What are some ways that you show zeal for God?
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What are some ways that you can keep your zeal and not loose it?
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What way do you think that zeal can be in vain?
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What are some ways that you can obtain knowledge so your zeal is directed properly? ___________________________________________________________

What are some ways that you can use your zeal to do good?

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