Open Arms: By God & For God

Hey!

I am back with the next edition of our series: By God & For God! I hope you liked the first one!

As you may know, in this series, I am talking to you about love languages.

If you’re joining us this week for the first time, have you heard of them before? If not, here’s a short explanation.

American pastor, Gary Chapman, wrote about this subject and explains that there are 5 love languages. And, this is what I want us all to discover during this summer. I start every article with a quick debrief of what it is (really, it’s not going to be long), and then, I talk to you about how we can use said love language in our relationship with God. I believe that He allowed us to have these languages for a reason, and I believe that this is is to live them all with the Father. All of this is to make Him happy! In that same way, it shows us His love for us through these languages.

Today, let’s talk about physical touch. 

What is it? 

Some people feel loved when they have physical contact. However, to render this simple, it means that these people appreciate being hugged or things of the genre  by the people they love. This doesn’t mean that these people lack affection or that they grew up lacking said affection. It’s simply because this helps them feel loved. I am probably one of them; I like hugging the people I love (and Canada hasn’t helped, if anything, it has made me more touchy-feely).

How to live that with God? 

We find ourselves here, in the same place where we were two weeks ago, in a delicate situation. Unless it’s a supernatural phenomenon, we cannot physically touch God, unlike the disciples who could touch Jesus (John 13:23, John 20:27). The difficulty comes in the fact that physical contact concerns two people. 

So, like last week, it seems to me that all things pass by His people and His creation. Once again, this does not concern the extraordinary phenomena that God permits. I invite you, therefore, to return to read this section of the previous article to read my suggestions about this subject, or simply, you can read Matthew 25:35 - 40. 

To add to that , I like spending time in worship. I sing, I pray and I let my body express itself to God in the ways that the spirit leads it. At church, I raise my hands to worship: these are acts that help me express my love. 

How does God show it? 

“Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.” (Luke 5:13)

“After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.” (John 9:6 - 7)

Sadly, today, it’s not really possible. 

So, here's something I love to do: rest in the presence of God. Listen to praise, or just sit in silence to find out what He has to teach me. In these moments, I sometimes feel His presence. It really is a blessing ... A few years ago, after an event we were at with our group of young adults, I felt like God came to hug me every night when I went to bed. These are impressions, but they are so valuable ...

But above all, today we have the church. In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we talk about how the believers leaned on each other, used each other. They almost lived together. And I believe that's a blessing that we have today. We have a community, made to live in communion with God. And this community is supposed to act the way Jesus would. A shoulder to cry on, arms to rejoice in, it's almost like an extension of the hand of God in our lives.

Finally, sometimes God touches us physically, even though we do not feel Him directly. Miraculous healings still exist today. I would advise you to read the testimonies in the "My life, His plan" section to discover some examples.

I hope this has given you a new perspective on loving God and seeing God's love for you,

Be blessed abundantly,

Do.