Need to marry someone on fire for God?

JohnClay said:

I think it is used to motivate the congregation to be even more "on fire" for God rather than allowing them to get too comfortable. Or it is about feeling more special. Or something like that.

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Saying that being "religious" means going to hell, and is what Satan wants is just a prime example of toxic religion. To be clear, being religious just means having a religion. The question that matters is what shape, form, and expression that religion takes. In the context of Christianity how is our religion shaped? How is our religious formation shaping how we think and how we act. True religion, St. James says, honors the weak and the poor, visiting and aiding the widow and the fatherless, providing food for the hungry. St. Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit, what is produced in our lives by the Spirit's ongoing sanctifying power: love, gentleness, self-control, humility, etc.

There is healthy zeal in matters of faith. To be zealous for the Lord in such a way that we refuse to compromise with the principles and vices of this present age. But empty religious zeal is something to be very cautious of. St. Paul reminds us that he was a very zealous man when he was persecuting the Church before his conversion. We might even say Paul was "on fire" for God--but that didn't stop him from hunting down Christians and trying to stamp out this new religious movement emerging out of the followers of this Jesus of Nazareth whom they claimed to be the Messiah.

I'm a single man. If you were to ask me what kind of Christian woman I want to marry, I want to marry a woman with a good head on her shoulders, who is compassionate, who values herself and others. Who loves the Lord, and who shows her love by having values which are directed at showing mercy and kindness. A woman with whom her and I can share our vulnerabilities, be strengthened in each other, and edified in our faith and life together in the Savior.

Permit me to be provocative. The devil loves zealots. The devil also loves the apathetic. The untempered zealot is a force of cruelty, the apathetic an unmoving lump--both do wonders to halt Christian charity, the preaching of the Gospel, and humble Christian discipleship.