In this week's devotional classic, Edwards contends that "the exercising of the will is nothing other than the affections of the soul....The nature of human beings is to be inactive unless influenced by some affection: love, hate, desire, hope, fear, etc... These affections are the 'spring of action,' the things that set us moving in our lives, that move us to engage in activities."
Edwards goes on to list 9 affections that Scripture encourages us to have: holy fear, hope, love, joy, holy desire, religious sorrow, gratitude, compassion, and zeal.
How do you cultivate some of these "affections" in your life so that they create passion and motivation to act and live out of them?
Certainly this is where disciplines come in. For me,
ReplyDeleteScripture- helps me to develop "holy fear and zeal" as I recognize God's holiness and sovereignty.
Journaling- helps me to identify and "discuss with myself" these affections (or lack of) in my life.
Serving others helps me perhaps more than anything else in cultivating these affections.
How about you?