What is Your Love Language?

The speaker at TOFW spoke on ways to find Joy in your relationships. And one thing that he touched on in his talk were the five different love languages. Now maybe I have been out of the loop, but I have never heard of them before. So I found it very interesting and I started to try and figure out where I fell and more importantly where Justin fell. As his advice was to discover what your spouse needs to feel love and then make every effort to fulfill that need. Just because we might need one type of "love" does not mean that is what our spouse needs. And we have a tendency to show love to others in the way that we most enjoy being shown love. The problem is even if we feel that gifts are the epitome of love out spouse could think gifts are ridiculous trinkets.

The Five Languages are:

1) Quality Time: Quality time is more than mere proximity. It’s about focusing all your energy on your mate. Quality activities are a very important part of quality time. Many mates feel most loved when they spend physical time together, doing activities that they love to do.

2) Receiving Gifts: Some mates respond well to visual symbols of love. If you speak this love language, you are more likely to treasure any gift as an expression of love and devotion. People who speak this love language often feel that a lack of gifts represents a lack of love from their mate. Luckily, this love language is one of the easiest to learn.

3) Acts of Service: Sometimes simple chores around the house can be an undeniable expression of love. Even simple things like laundry and taking out the trash require some form of planning, time, effort, and energy. Just as Jesus demonstrated when he washed the feet of his disciples, doing humble chores can be a very powerful expression of love and devotion to your mate.

4) Physical Touch: Many mates feel the most loved when they receive physical contact from their partner. For a mate who speaks this love language loudly, physical touch can make or break the relationship.

5) Words of Affirmation: Verbal appreciation speaks powerfully to persons whose primary Love Language is “Words of Affirmation.” Simple statements, such as, “You look great in that suit,” or “You must be the best baker in the world! I love your oatmeal cookies,” are sometimes all a person needs to hear to feel loved. side from verbal compliments, another way to communicate through “Words of Affirmation” is to offer encouragement.

So the question is are you speaking the right language? And is your spouse speaking the language that works the best for you?