Romans 10
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
I remember as a young leader in church, a lady approached me and told me that my zeal for God is worth emulating. At that time, I basked in the glory of that remark. “Wow, somebody noticed my zeal for God. I loved how parents would say to their kids, “be like Dennis, he is so passionate for the things of God.” It made me look God while it made my friends look a little less righteous.
I knew I loved the Lord and I knew I was excited for the things of God but I also knew my heart was not right before God. My zeal was in my good works and not on Christ’s work. I took pride in my religious activities and my spiritual fervor for God. I took a great thing and made it my ultimate thing.
Up until know, I need to remind myself that I live for God’s glory and not mine. It is our human nature to take credit and the only way to stay humble is to remind myself of what Christ did for me.