What are you passionate about?

We've all got something we care about; it’ll take up a considerable portion of our weekly schedule and everyone knows we love it. It might be football; You know all the fixtures of your team and you really care whether they win or lose. It might be your studies. You've joined the society, you attend the extra lectures; you might even be dreaming about it (maybe not).

We become passionate about something by getting involved in it, whether that’s playing the sport, reading the books or buying the t-shirt. And we don’t hide our passions. It’s natural to talk about what we care about; we obsess over them, we shout about them. Until all of our friends are fed up listening. But we still care.

As Christians we’re always striving for a better relationship with God. We want our hearts to be in line with his, and we’re trying to live in a way that reflects him. So if Jesus was passionate about justice, we should be too. What did Jesus mean when he said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”?  What if the challenge to “Love your neighbour as yourself” meant people across the world as well as across the street? 

We’ll only stand up for something if we care about it first. But how often do we think about the fact that developing countries account for 98% of the world’s hungry? Yet people fighting poverty can’t do it half-heartedly, because it’s a big issue. And gaining this passion means realising the reality of the world around us. It’s a tough issue to embrace, but we need to do it.

The best writers are so because they love writing. The best politicians care about their policies. The best poverty fighters want to stop injustice.

The Christian Aid Collective are passionate about ending poverty. We believe that we can use our talents, our time and our energy to do it. But we’re a Collective because we can’t do it on our own. It’s rare that one person can change the world. But a people who are united? A people who are passionate? A people who make their voices heard?

Anyone and everyone can get involved. You don’t have to be eloquent, you don’t have to be qualified, and you don’t even have to understand the big issues yet. You just need to care. Joining together, our voices might make a difference. We've all got a part to play.

Let’s do it. 

Jo is interning for our friends @TheCAcollective. You can follow her on twitter here; @Joanna_Cal