Tag Archives: Receiving gifts

Learning A Second (Love) Language

Have you ever tried to learn a second language? The younger you are, the easier it will be to learn a second language, but it is never too late to learn…especially when learning to speak the language of love.

I was sharing with one of the nurses about Gary Chapman’s masterpiece for improving the way husbands and wives understand and communicate with each other. The 5 Love Languages is founded on the premise we don’t all interpret and express love in the same way. A husband may take out the garbage or do all the fix-it repairs around the house and feel he has expressed love to his wife. But his wife may feel unloved by these gestures, instead longing for her mate to just spend some quality time with her.

Learning to speak each other’s love languages is essential to growing a great marriage. Marcia and I can attest that after forty years it still requires continual effort and also that it keeps getting better!

What are the five love languages? Chapman’s research concludes that we tend to receive and express love in one or more of these ways:
Words of Affirmation
Acts of Service
Receiving Gifts
Quality Time
Physical Touch

You can take a short quiz to help you assess your love languages and discover other valuable resources at:
Www.5lovelanguages.com

If you normally interpret love in one way and your spouse or child interprets love in another way, it is time to learn a “foreign” language. It is NOT too late and I guarantee that you and your spouse will benefit from drawing closer to each other. Like any foreign language, it will help if you decide ahead of time that it won’t happen overnight. And it will require you to act outside of your comfort zone. But the benefits of learning a second or even third love language are immensely rewarding.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…”
Philippians 1:9a