Romans 10:1-4, Ungodly Zeal
Zeal is something that can drives individuals to do great things and it is something that can drive them to do equally horrible things as well. Zeal is essentially a passionate feeling towards an issue or situation that drives individuals to move. You can say that Hitler had zeal to destroy the Jewish race, a suicide bomber has zeal for their cause or god, and a missionary has zeal to fulfill a calling upon their life. Paul says in these first four verse of chapter 10, that the Israelite's had zeal for God, but their zeal wasn’t based according to proper knowledge. As I mentioned earlier, it is entirely possible to be zealous for the wrong things but believe you are doing them for the right reasons. Paul understood this because he was once zealous for the Law of God (Acts 22:3) but instead of the Law drawing him to Jesus, his zeal drove him to persecute and kill believers in Jesus.
The key to having proper zeal is to have the proper knowledge. If we are led by our selfish ambition or intellectual desire, then we will have zeal for the wrong things in this life and this zeal can drive us to do things God never intended to be done. If we allow the spirit of God and the Word of God to drive our zeal, then we will be zealous for the things of God and do great things for God’s Kingdom. When Paul surrendered his heart to God his zeal changed from persecuting Christianity to promoting and proclaiming it as the only option. The same should be true in our lives as well, we must be zealous for the things of God and ensure that we don’t become zealous for the things of this world. Our zeal must be backed by accurate knowledge of who God is as proclaimed in His Word, The Bible and fueled by the Holy Spirit.
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rYy7FP9fZtg/maxresdefault.jpg)