It is a glorious May day, and I am sitting on my back porch in my comfy chair with this incredible sense of aaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Having a cup of coffee with Jesus and feeling completely relaxed and refreshed….
This morning I was contemplating the idea of “love languages”. Gary Chapman has written a book on it. It’s helpful for all relationships – marriage, children, relatives, friends, etc. It’s based on the idea that there are five love languages which speak to people’s hearts – Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts and Words of Affirmation. Each of us responds to one or more of these, meaning that that is the way that we feel loved and valued and appreciated. By being aware of the love languages that our loved ones speak, we are better able to communicate our love to them in a way that they can receive.
Lucky for us, God speaks all of those languages and more. And His intimate knowledge of us allows Him to show us His love in a way that is specifically directed at us in our own language.
For example, my two dominant love languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. How does He speak His love into my life? Through His words in the bible – there are times when those words speak so directly to my heart and my life that I know that He meant them just for me that day. To say, “Jana, I love you thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!” (I picture His arms spread wide as He illustrates this point.) He also uses the words from other books to speak into my life, the words of others through speaking, conversing, texting, emailing, etc. He loves on me greatly everyday through words.
And what about my counterpart language of physical touch? How can the God of the universe physically touch me? Through hugs from people who love me, from strangers that I’ve just met, from a friend holding my hand when I’m sad or afraid, from the tender touches of my husband, or the squeezes from my kids. But He also speaks this language to me when my senses come alive from a wonderful tasting food or beautiful music or an amazing sunset or the smell of flowers in the spring. Those, to me, are His kisses on my life that say, “I love you so much that I am showing you through the touch of your senses of sight, smell, taste and hearing.
Think about your love language today. What is it? Acts of service? Time? Receiving gifts? Physical touch? Words of affirmation? Figure out what speaks to your heart and lets you know you are loved. And then look for the ways that God shows you His love through your own personal language. You will be amazed at how well He knows you. You will begin to watch for His specific love notes in your life and will come to anticipate what form they will come in next.
He is the creative lover of our souls and will continually use different means to show and prove His love in our lives. He speaks each of our languages fluently. It’s incredibly exciting. It’s unbelievably sweet. And it is ours for the experiencing.
Ephesians 3:18 – And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
Listen for His voice with your eyes wide open….
