The Spiritual Man

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Affection
God’s Demand
Yielding one’s affection to the lord may be viewed
by the Christian to be a most difficult task, yet the Lord
is concerned with One’s affection more than with any Other matter.
He demands him to present his affection wholly to Him and let Him
lord over it. The Lord asks for first place in our affection. We Often
hear people talk about consecration, but this act is simply the first
step in one’s spiritual walk. Consecration is not the destination of
spirituality, it is but its beginning. It leads a Christian to a sanctified
position. In a word, without consecration there can be no spiritual
life. Even so, nothing is more paramount in one’s consecration than
is his affection. Whether or not this has been yielded determines the
truth or falsity of consecration. Its acid test is affection. Relatively
easy is it for us to hand over our time, money, power, and countless
other items; but to offer our affection is exceedingly difficult. This is
not to imply we do not love Christ; perhaps we love our Lord very
much. Nevertheless, if we grant first place in our affection to another
and relegate Christ to second place, or if we love someone else while
loving the Lord, or if we ourselves direct our affection, then what we
have offered is not considered consecration for we have not yielded
our affection. Every spiritual believer appreciates the necessity for
affection to be offered first. For without that, nothing really is
offered.
God the Father demands absolute love from His children. He is
unwilling to share Our heart with anyone or anything else: even a He
should receive the bigger share, He is still not pleased. God demands
all our love. Naturally this strikes a fatal blow to One’s soul life. The
Lord bids us part with what we Ourselves cling to, for it divides Our
heart. He asks us to love Him totally and to utterly follow Him in
love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with