With Arms Wide Open

Everyday, we’re communicating a variety of things to others. But what’s amazing, is that most of these things are NOT through our words.

Professor Mehrabian shared his research and found that, communication is only 7% verbal and 93% non-verbal. The non-verbal component is made up of body language (55%) and tone of voice (38%).

Think about that!

93% of all communication is non-verbal and our body language is 55% of what we’re saying or doing. That means, we can be saying something good with our words, but our body language is saying something bad.

In truth, we’ve all seen someone have a look on their face that says, “leave me alone”. Moreover, we’ve probably done this ourselves too because our body language doesn’t lie. We can lie with our words, but our bodies will tell the truth.

When it comes to our arms, they say a lot.

When our arms are open, the message is powerful and needed. It’s communicating acceptance, safety, love and care. In fact, when we see open arms, it can build trust and help us let down our guard. This is vital because we are reacting to the body language of others and they are doing the same to us.

So right now, in all that we’re facing, we need open arms to God and to others!

Jesus detailed this in Matthew 22:37-39, when he gave a two things we do to live for him.

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. A second is equally important: 39. Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “

Matthew 22:37-39

Notice, we love God and love people with arms wide open!

This posture gives acceptance, safety, love and care. It’s giving to others what has been freely given to us; therefore, our mandate is to love and love people. It’s to live with arms wide open for all to see the God we serve. After all, God didn’t close his arms to us, so we shouldn’t close our arms to others.

So, because what we’re saying non-verbally can be louder than what we say with our words, we must live, with arms wide open.

What are we saying to others today? What message is being communicated by our body language?

I know for me, some days it’s good and other days it’s not. There are times that I’m too busy and miss God moments. And because of this, I’m working on myself, so that I’m living my life with my arms wide open.

I know this is easier said than done right now because of our pace, Covid-19, political strife, unemployment, and racial tensions. These things are BIG factors that impact our attitude to God and toward others. However, through all of this, we must remember to love God and love people. This is our mission and it’s how we fulfill our faith. This is how we honor God and honor others and this is how we dismantle the darkness and give His light.

But what does it look like to live with arms wide open?

These are some of the attributes that reflect open arms to God.:

First with God, we worship Him, we believe His word and we’re yielding ourselves to Him. We don’t debate what we won’t do because we’re believing what He will do. We’re tender to His presence and we believe His word is true. Our faith is innocent while also discerning what’s going on around us. We take disappointment and pain to Him for healing and because of this, we’re closer to Jesus.

These are some of the attributes that reflect open arms toward others:

With others, we’re kind, humble, forgiving and gracious to them. We have a listening ear and an open heart to their story. We seek to connect to them verses making points at them. We desire to build a bridge verses burning the bridge to be right. We’re discerning, merciful, patient and walking in love. Our posture toward them is open arms, just like Christ has with us.

So, how are we doing today with God and with others?

Right now is easy to be mad, divided and to shut down; however, we’re called to more. We’re called to live, with arms wide open.

Please say yes to God today!

He’s done so much for us, how can we not give back to others. This is our moment to BE the church! This is our moment to live, with arms wide open!

I love you and I believe you can make a difference.

Have a great week and the best is yet to come!

PD