Affection is GODLY (and GOOD for you)

I was thumbing through my file of newspaper clippings recently and I came across several amazing articles! The first article was headlined “Four Hugs a Day Shoos the Blues Away!” The article stated that a Dr. Virginia Satir told a gathering of over 4,000 delegates to the American Orthopsychiatric Association that 4 hugs a day will help you survive the blues, but a dozen is better! She went on to say that 4 hugs were actually needed for survival, 8 were good for maintenance and 12 for growth.

Well, she sounded like she must know what she’s talking about, so I enthusiastically tried hugging my wife more!–With wonderful results! At the moment I’m beyond surviving and hopefully by the end of the day I’ll be growing. I wonder what comes after 12 though? I guess she didn’t expect anyone to reach that level!

What a nice way to show affection to one another: With a hug or a kiss! Even the dear Apostle Paul admonished Christians to “greet each other with a holy kiss.” (2Cor 13:12)

Science has proven that overly-puritanical codes of conduct are not GOOD for people, psychologically, physically, and certainly not emotionally! How many hundreds of thousands of marriages fall apart every year simply because of a lack of showing affection and genuine displays of emotion?!

Remember, true Christianity is not just a mental, intellectual faith! It is supposed to change your HEART, and anything that moves your HEART logically has to move your EMOTIONS as well! Therefore, being LOVING, AFFECTIONATE and free enough to give HUGS and KISSES is an integral PART of obeying the Lord’s admonition to love others!

It just goes to show that the natural desires that God placed in us to show LOVE and AFFECTION are actually BENEFICIAL and NEEDED for a healthy life! Not only are they morally RIGHT, but they are very NECESSARY parts of His plan for living!

God’s wonderful design for showing love and affection has amazing MEDICAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL benefits as well!

There is also evidence that affection can CURE arthritis, insomnia, ulcers, heart disease and hypertension! Think of all the ills we could avoid if we would just have more free and FREQUENT INTIMATE affectional relations with those whom we love!–As God Himself surely intended us to have!

To quote Dr. Earl Marsh, Medical director of the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human affectionuality, “If people would get more sensually involved with those they care for, they would have less illness, would sleep better and there would be fewer of them in hospitals or in an early grave! HUGGING, TOUCHING, KISSING, anything like that would do! We have found that affection is one of the most efficient treatments in RELIEVING TENSION which is the ROOT CAUSE of so many ailments. Once the tension is gone, then the intimacy of affection continues to cure and remove all the symptoms. Affection, even just intimate bodily contact, works to bring relief to the whole body!”

Dr. Marsh says that “the trouble with our culture today is that those over 50 have been conditioned to think affection is taboo as a person gets older. But as people get older they often get into a tense mental state because of things like loneliness and anxiety about the future. That’s when hugging, kissing or touching could bring new meaning to their lives!”

And to quote yet another source, Jessie Potter, of Chicago’s National Institute for Human Relationships, says that, “Studies in European Hospitals have shown that even a BACK RUB has made patients feel so much better, that hospitals could eliminate the need for pain-killers and other medicines, particularly sleeping pills. Affection is ALSO one of our healthiest natural resources, but too many people leave it untapped.”

It just goes to show that God ALSO made it so that we needed to have LOVE and AFFECTION for our own PSYCHOLOGICAL well-being and PHYSICAL HEALTH! As David said in Psalm 139:14, “I will PRAISE You, for I am FEARFULLY (awesomely) and WONDERFULLY made; Your works are MARVELLOUS, and my soul knows that right well!”

God CREATED men and women to not only need HIM and HIS Love, but to need LOVE and beautifully unifying, intimate affectionate contact with each other! We were MADE to be emotional, warm, loving and affectionate, and to NOT be that way is to not be NATURAL!

As Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, “live JOYFULLY with your wife whom you love all the days of your life!”–And ENJOY love, and affection as even a CURE-ALL for many diseases, afflictions, tensions & troubles!–It’s GOOD for you!–TRY it!–You’ll LOVE it!–And THANK GOD for it!