AFFECTIONS
HOW DO AFFECTIONS IMPACT OUR LIVES? Proverbs 4:23-27
Above all else, guard your heart, for it
affects everything you do. (Proverbs 4:23)
ACTIONS TEND TO FOLLOW AFFECTIONS.
Our heart-our feelings of love and desire-dictates to a
great extent how we live, because we always find time to do what we enjoy.
Solomon tells us to keep our heart with all diligence, making sure we
concentrate on those desires that will keep us on the right path. Make sure
your affections push you in the right direction. Put boundaries on your
desires: don’t go after everything you see. Look straight ahead, keep your eyes
fixed on your goal, and don’t get sidetracked on detours that lead to
temptation.
GOD’S WORD ON AFFECTION
WHERE DO I FOCUS MY AFFECTIONS?
Mark 12:30 . . . You must love the Lord your God with all
your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
Psalm 42:1-2 . . . As the deer pants for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and
stand before him?
Psalm 73:25 . . .Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you
more than anything on earth.
Our primary affection should be for God.
Psalm 119:20, 97, 103, 167. . . I am overwhelmed continually
with a desire for your laws.
Oh, how I love your law! I think about it all day long. How
sweet are your words to my taste; they are sweeter than honey. I have obeyed
your decrees, and I love them very much.
We should love his words to us as found in the Scriptures.
God’s loving words reveal a loving God.
Psalm 27:4 . . . The one thing I ask of the Lord-the thing I
seek most-is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.
Psalm 69:9 . . . Passion for your house burns within me, so
those who insult you are also insulting me.
We should love God’s house for it is there that we can
worship him in a special way.
Psalm 16:3 . . . The godly people in the land are my true
heroes! I take pleasure in them!
John 13:34 . . . Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love
each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
Mark 12:31 . . . “The second is equally important: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Matthew 5:44 . . . But I say, love your enemies! Pray for
those who persecute you!
We are to have affection for all other humans.
HOW DOES GOD EXPRESS HIS AFFECTION FOR US?
John 3:16 . . . God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal
life.
Romans 5:8 . . . God showed his great love for us by sending
Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
1 John 4:9-10 . . . God showed how much he loved us by
sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through
him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
He gave up his own son, Jesus, for us as an expression of
his love for us. Jesus died so that we might live forever. This is real love.
Psalm 136:1 . . . Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Jeremiah 31:3 . . . Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I
have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have
drawn you to myself.”
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 . . . That is what the Scriptures mean
when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared for those who love him.”
His desires a daily and eternal relationship with us, and
daily pursues us with his love.
HOW CAN WE EXPRESS OUR AFFECTION FOR GOD?
Psalm 143:6 . . . I reach out for you. I thirst for you as
parched land thirsts for rain.
Psalm 130:6 . . . I long for the Lord more than sentries
long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
Psalm 63:1 . . . O God, you are my God; I earnestly search
for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched
and weary land where there is no water.
Our longing for God is evidence of our affection for him.
John 14:15 . . . “If you love me, obey my commandments.”
Isaiah 26:8 . . . Lord, we love to obey your laws; our
heart’s desire is to glorify your name.
Psalm 119:40, 131 . . . I long to obey your commandments!
Renew my life with your goodness. I open my mouth, panting expectantly, longing
for your commands.
Our obedience to God and his Word is evidence of our
affection for him. Obedience is one of the highest forms of love for it honors
the person we obey.
Psalm 84:2 . . . I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter
the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout
joyfully to the living God.
Our own words are evidence of our affection for him. We show
our affection for God by saying so, by telling him. Imagine a spouse who never
says, “I love you,” or never speaks of you to others.
HOW CAN I SHOW MY AFFECTION FOR MY SPOUSE?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 . . . Love is patient and kind. Love is
not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way.
Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It
is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love
never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance.
We can show our affection for our spouses in the way we
respond to them.
Ephesians 5:25 . . . You husbands must love your wives with
the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her.
Total devotion and dedication mirrors affection. Love and
affection is not for the moment but forever. Christ loved the church enough to
die for it.
Song of Songs 1:7-8 . . . “Tell me, O my love, where are you
leading your flock today? Where will you rest your sheep at noon? For why
should I wander like a prostitute among the flocks of your companions?” Young
Man: “If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman, follow the trail of my flock
to the shepherds’ tents, and there feed your young goats.”
Wanting to spend time with one another communicates our
level of affection for each other.
Song of Songs 1:9 . . . What a lovely filly you are, my
beloved one!
We can verbally express our affection for our spouses.
Song of Songs 2:4-6 . . . He brings me to the banquet hall,
so everyone can see how much he loves me. Oh, feed me with your love-your
‘raisins’ and your ‘apples’-for I am utterly lovesick! His left hand is under
my head, and his right hand embraces me.
We can let others know our delight with our spouses.
Song of Songs 1:12 . . . Young Woman: “The king is lying on
his couch, enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume.”
We can look for ways to please one another.
HOW CAN WE SHOW AFFECTION FOR OUR FRIENDS?
John 15:12-13 . . . I command you to love each other in the
same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it-the greatest love is
shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.
2 Corinthians 12:15 . . . I will gladly spend myself and all
I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you,
the less you love me.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 . . . We loved you so much that we gave
you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.
The willingness to give one’s life for another is the
yardstick of affection.
Luke 10:27 . . . The man answered, “You must love the Lord your
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.”
And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 Samuel 20:17 . . . Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of
friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself.
Loving a friend as much as we love ourselves demonstrates
our affection for them.
Proverbs 20:6 . . . Many will say they are loyal friends,
but who can find one who is really faithful?
1 Samuel 23:18 . . . So the two of them renewed their
covenant of friendship before the Lord.
Being faithful to our friends shows our affection for them.
Love and unfaithfulness cannot live together. If we love, we are faithful. When
we are faithful, we express our love.
1 John 3:17-19 . . . If one of you has enough money to live
well, and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help-how can God’s
love be in that person? Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each
other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know
we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the
Lord.
Our actions are an outward demonstration of our affection.
Sometimes what we do speaks louder than what we say.
2 Corinthians 7:15 . . . Now he cares for you more than ever
when he remembers the way you listened to him and welcomed him with such
respect and deep concern.
We can show our affection with our eagerness to listen with
respect and concern. Listening honors and respects the other person, and that
is love.
Romans 12:9-10 . . . Don’t just pretend that you love
others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good.
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each
other.
Our affection for one another should lead us to enjoy
honoring each other. Grudging love isn’t really love at all. Grudging affection
doesn’t really bless either of you.
HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND IF WE FEEL OUR AFFECTIONS ARE WANING OR MISPLACED?
Psalm 26:2 . . . Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine
me. Test my motives and affections.
We should be willing for the Lord to test our affections.
Seek wisdom from him. But when he sends it, do something about it.
Revelation 2:4-5 . . . I have this complaint against you.
You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have
fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at
first. If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among
the churches.
Revelation 3:19 . . . I am the one who corrects and
disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference.
We should be aware of our indifference and turn back to God.
If our indifference is to our spouse, rekindle the fire together.
Psalm 106:12-13 . . . Then at last his people believed his
promises. Then they finally sang his praise. Yet how quickly they forgot what
he had done! They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!
We should remember what God has done for us in the past and
wait for His counsel today. We should remember also, the times of passion and
affection between us as spouses and reflect on those together. Then perhaps we
can sing a new song of marital love.
2 Peter 1:7 . . . Godliness leads to love for other
Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.
We should pursue godliness. Godliness is God-likeness and
God is love.
Proverbs 4:23 . . . Above all else, guard your heart, for it
affects everything you do.
We should be careful to guard our affections realizing their
affect on our lives, for good or bad.
PROMISE FROM GOD:
1 Peter 4:8 . . . Most important of all, continue to show
deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
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