Wednesday; September 28

Decades ago, Gary Chapman wrote a book, “The 5 Love Languages: The Secret To Love That Lasts”. In all honesty, I haven’t read the book, but from what I gather from those who have, there are five basic ways people can show their affection to their loved ones. A brief overview of the book indicates that we express our love (or feel loved) through words of affirmation, quality time, gift giving/receiving, acts of service and physical touch. I am sure that this work is based on extensive research – but whether it is quantitative or not, I like the idea. People feel loved in different ways and if we care about the people around us, we’ll figure out the way they want to be loved.

As I reflected on this book, I was led to another author of love, the inspired Apostle Paul. Paul wrote a lot about love, but his quintessential work may come in his letter to the church in Corinth, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Corinthians 13:4-7). Several lessons can be learned by this passage, but one that stands out clearly is that people can express love in a variety of ways. Like Chapman’s observations, we can pay attention to how the people we care about relate to how we show them love. When we find one that works, let’s remember it and repeat it.

Think About It!

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