Increasing or Decreasing Love

I included a quote from Bill Hybels in my message on Sunday; "The longer you walk with God the more open your arms become". What is Hybels trying to say? The more we walk with God the more God's love affects our capacity to love. I believe it. But, I haven't always experienced it myself. I haven't always observed it in others. There have been times in my life that I have chosen to cross my arms. What about you? Why? Does that mean that I ceased to walk with God? A couple of things come to mind. First, we have to allow the love of God to heal us. If we fail to open our arms to others, it may be because we fear vulnerability. There may be lingering hurts and disappointments that we haven't released to God. Openness is closely related to vulnerability. Increased vulnerability can and should increase as we walk with a God who knows everything about us and loves us anyway. But, we have to trust God to heal us. In addition to our fear of vulnerability, we may be hesitant to open our arms because our walk with God has become distorted. Selfishness creates a myopic view of our world and our God. We limit the scope of our relationship with God when it becomes a selfish relationship. God does not belong to us - we belong to Him.