Colors of Love: Red in Passion

Red is a very meaningful, one might even say powerful color. Immediately, it makes me think of love, red roses and all the red candy wrappers for Valentine’s Day.

That’s not to mention pizza sauce (pepperoni pizza lover here), cardinals, fire trucks and stop signs or the classic book The Red Badge of Courage. In recent years, I have been given a new reason to appreciate it: my son’s favorite color is red.

Symbolism of Red

The color red has become associated with many tangible items and ideas alike. It is a primary color of physical fire, where red flame burns hotter than orange or yellow flame.

Anger is often depicted by the color red due to the rush of blood to an angry person’s face. Red is the main color used to signify the fiery passion that couples experience when they are madly in love.

In this post we will focus on red symbolizing passion. The feeling of passion is experienced by limerent individuals daily.

Burning Passion

My own limerence was characterized largely by deep, burning passion. It ran through my veins, giving me energy and motivation to keep going. It made me feel more alive when I would have otherwise become complacent. Without it, probably I would have given up on my own life goals because I couldn’t have the one thing I wanted most.

I thought of my affection for my limerence object as a fire that could not be quenched. Eventually, I realized it was burning my heart in a destructive way. If you found Lord Over Limerence by searching for limerence support, probably your passion is burning your heart too.

Passion gives us a drive that moves us toward a goal. If our passion is misplaced, we will move in the wrong direction. It is misplaced when we direct it toward our limerence objects.

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Our hearts mislead us because they are naturally inclined to choose what goes against God’s plan.

I heard a quote recently to the effect of, “We become what we admire.” (St. Clare of Assisi may be the source of the quote.) Instead of the subject of your limerence, consciously turn your heart toward Jesus. Spend time with Him and discover the things you admire most about Him.

Consider how Moses’ face shone when he came down from the mountain after talking with the Lord (Exodus 34:29-35). Like Moses, you will begin to “glow” with His goodness as you grow more like what you admire about Him.

Jesus’ Passion for Us

Anything we have felt Jesus has felt also. He has a passion for us we can hardly begin to understand. So great is His love for us that He would give everything for us. And in fact, He did give us everything. His passion for us led Him to the cross!

Jesus’ blood was shed for us, which affords us another important association with the color red. His pure, perfect, precious blood could not be tainted even by our numerous offenses. He sacrificed His very life so that He could be reconciled to us, whom He calls His beloved children.

Rejection by the objects of our affection may diminish our passion for them. By contrast, our rejection of Jesus will never diminish His passion for us. That rejection may look like complete denial of who He is. Or it could be simply turning away from the path of life for a season. Either case has no bearing on the magnitude of His passion for us. He loves us truly unconditionally.

Aside: If you are a new or not yet mature believer, it may seem offensive or inaccurate to presume that you ever rejected Jesus. I struggled with the idea that I was just as sinful as someone who did not meet Jesus so early in life.

But when I thought deeply about what my life would be like if I had not been taught to live for Him, it was very dark indeed. Jesus saved me from much evil, and you can be certain He has saved you from evil as well.

Our Passion for Jesus

In light of this unconditional, passionate love, how can we keep our hearts from him? How can we not adore Him with the same intensity of passion as we have harbored toward our limerence objects? He gave us everything, so let us give Him everything we have in return.

I understand this is much easier said than done. One step in favor of what I called Operation Fade the Passion felt like one step closer to losing my identity. In reality, this step of taking your heart back from your limerence object is necessary to embrace your true identity.

You as a believer are a part of the body of Christ, the church. And the church is the bride of Christ (see Ephesians 5:22-33), so let us abide in Him wholeheartedly.

Our love, our hearts, our fiery passion – devoted to fallen humanity, this amounts to nothing. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things… in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)

But in Him, our faith – even faith as small as a mustard seed – can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). How much more our passion in its greatest intensity? He will use this to work wonders beyond our imagination.

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

This post is part of the 2023 Colors of Love series. Other posts in the series cover orange, gray, white, black, purple, green, blue and yellow.