Love Languages

Today I am not going to discuss love as a root of good, but rather love’s outward expression. I think it’s relevant before we go further with love vs. lust.

The way you demonstrate love and the way the people in your life need to be shown love may not be in sync.

You express love in one of 5 love languages:

(1) Words of affirmation
(2) Gifts
(3) Quality time
(4) Acts of service
(5) Physical touch

And the people you love need to “feel” loved in one of these 5 ways as well.

It is highly probable that you give love in the same way your parents showed their love for you.

My dad, for example, loves by providing services. He is the kind of person who will get off work at 7:00 pm and drive for an hour to help you load up and move to your new place, staying with it until 3:00 in the morning, even though he has to be back at work by 8:00 am. He is showing me how much he loves me by supplying me with this service.

And as it turns out, I show people I love them by doing things for them as well, at least I believe I do. If you know me and you disagree, please help me know myself better by telling me why I am wrong.

But not everyone in my life interprets service as love. Someone who needs physical touch will not recognize the way I am showing them my love. Therefore, they may feel neglected, and our relationship may become stressed.

You can significantly improve your relationships by understanding others’ love languages, but first you must recognize your own. How do you express love? And what expression makes you feel loved?

Here’s a test in case you need help, but you should be able to figure it out with little contemplation.

Further to this post, I can highly recommend Dr. Chapman’s book on the subject.