False Zeal
H. Bonar, D. D. Galatians 4:18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. A false zeal in religion is always, in some respect or other, a misdirected zeal, or a zeal not according to knowledge — a zeal seeking some false end, seeking its promotion in some unauthorized way. Jehu had a good zeal, which he called zeal for the Lord of Hosts. His fault was, not that he was too zealous, but that his zeal was really directed to his own advancement. The Jews in the days of Christ had a zeal for God, but it was so misdirected as to fire them with a frenzy to destroy the Son of God and extinguish the Light of the world. There are countless forms of false zeal now at work; but in all cases they sin, not by excess, but by misdirection. Some are flaming with a zeal to spread some of the corruptions of Christianity, and to carry men away from its great and cardinal truths. Some are equally zealous to build up a sect or party on other foundations than those which God has laid in Zion; and that which taints their zeal is the purpose to which they employ it, and not any excessive fervour of their zeal itself. (H. Bonar, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. WEB: But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.