I have always been one who likes to be inspired and to have inspirations. I remember growing up and being inspired by music, dance, sermons, nature… all things that would somehow stir my soul and mind to desire to be greater then I currently was .
Matt Chandler puts it like this… "It has been my experience that inspirations are brief, sporadic and rare. By inspiration I mean those moments where our souls are stimulated to a high level of feeling, thinking and doing. I love those brief, sporadic and rare moments. I am addicted to the vitality I have, the love I feel, and the clarity of thought that occurs when I am inspired. I have tried for years to pay attention to these moments, to dig into them, excavate them, and figure them out."
Several years ago I heard the term affection in regard to the Christian life and the stirring of affections that should happen in our walk. Our affections should be stirred by God and we as believers should be inspired by those affections to love and live differently.
I've been challenged lately to question what stirs my affections for Christ. What, when I’m doing it, when I’m around it or dwelling on it creates in me a greater hunger for, passion for and worship of Christ and His mission?
I also have to pay attention and on guard to what robs me of affection for Christ. What, when I was doing it or spending time around it created in me an unhealthy love for this world?
1. Watching too much TV and movies.
2. Spending money on things I don't need or things I think will make me happy
3. Running after Ideas that I may have at the expense of things that needed to be done already but aren't.
4. Worrying about finances and making money out to be the answer to my happiness.
5. Expecting my home and marriage and life to be what I expect it to be and not to be open to the ministry opportunities that surround our imperfect life day by day.
6. Doing things for the praise of others.
What inspires you?
Better yet, what stirs your affections for Christ, truth and holiness? If we can fill our lives with the things that stir our affections and avoid and flee those things that rob us of inspiration, we have a better shot at dwelling deeply. What and who inspires you? Stirs you? What presses you into holy places? What robs you of joy and vitality? What robs you of your affection for Christ and holiness?