The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman is one of my favourite books. This particular book is aimed at married couples but I find the principles work in any relationship. You can also apply love languages to a friendship, to a parent child relationship, in a family & even your relationship with God.No matter how young or old you are this is a great principle to learn about. In a nutshell the 5 Love Languages are Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service & Physical Touch. You may already be able to guess what your love language is but I do recommend reading the book as you may find that your love language is not what you thought it was. Most importantly you may receive love in one language but need to speak another language to give love to someone.
I have used the principle of love languages in my marriage, in my friendships, in my relationship with my children & in my relationship with God! It might sound silly to you but I try to tell God how I love Him in all sorts of different ways :) God IS love! Eric preached on this recently & it is powerful when you think about it. God doesn't have love for us He IS love. If God is love then it makes sense that us learning about love & how to love is really important.
I highly recommend this book as a great starting point to learning about all the different ways love is expressed & received. If we all simply grasped & used love this world would be a much nicer place. Check out the 5 Love Languages website too for all sorts of resources.
This is a life changing book! It is easy to both read and Digest. Although simple to read the content is profound. I just love the fact that a Christian author has written such a worthwhile book in a way that anyone can relate to its contents. It explains how people give and receive love in a variety of different ways and what can be achieved by using the primary love language on an individual basis. This book is valuable to deepen and enhance relatinships with family and friends alike. My husband was intriged by the intensity with which I read 'The Five Love Languages', so much so, that he is now reading it himself. I plan to share it with as many family and friends as I can, to enhance their lives and the lives of folk they are connected to. Every human being has a deep need to be loved. If you want to make a difference in this world, this is probably the best book to guide you on how to make an impact for God. God is love, so go on, show His love through using the five love languages and relate to people on a level they will recognise and respond to.
ReplyDeleteAlso in the sreies are 'God speaks your love language' which concentrates on enriching our relationship with God and understanding other people who experience God's love in a different way than ourselves. Then 'The Seven characteristics of Love' really gets down to the nitty gritty, if your up for quite a challenge and want to take love to the next level!
Hope you enjoy both reading and implementing The Five Love Languages, then the really exciting bit is watching God work with them.
Jan xXx
Here is a little more information about the two books mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteHere is a short extract from 'God Speaks your Love Language', which is very poignant:- "Great things happen on the wheels of relationships." And the oil that lubricates the wheels of relationships is love. No power holds more potential for changing human relationships than the power of love. This is found in the chapter entitled 'Love Prevails'.
Also anyone who wants to study the seven characteristics of love, will find it in Gary Chapman's book called 'Love as a way of life'. this really is an in depth study that has the power to transform your life and in turn transform the lives of the poeple you connect with. It is a book to savour and take your time to digest, in order to obtain it's full potential. The result will prove both worthwhile and effective as God works through the characteristics of His love in you!
Jan xXx