In any family, communication is very important, especially husbands and wives communicating love to each other, parents to their children and children to their parents. But the problem is that many times, we communicate love in ways that are often misunderstood by those receiving the message. A book written by Gary Chapman entitled the “Five Love Languages” explains this very clearly.
Much like when we communicate with people and we use a different language that the other person can’t understand, this creates miscommunication or misunderstanding. In order for two people to communicate clearly they must both use the same language – either one has to learn the other person’s language.
In Mr. Chapman’s book he explains that there are different ways that we communicate love and he calls them love languages. In our homes, often times, we as individual members use different love languages depending on our uniqueness. This use of different love languages contribute to the lack of love inside the home. The suggestion is to find out our own love language, learn the love language of the other members of the family and learn to express our love to them using their love language which may mean learning a new love language if their love language is not the same as ours.
Love Language # 1: Words of Affirmation
One of the ways we communicate love is through words of affirmation. These are words that build up and not tear down. We often use nagging words to remind somebody in the home about something we want them to do but the best motivation is using encouraging words. Another is using kind words. This means being respectful to each other. Sometimes we are more conscious about being respectful to people outside our homes and we take for granted that we need to start first at home. Another kind of words of affirmation is using humble words. Saying “I’m sorry” of using the words “Forgive me” can mean a lot to people we love. By admitting our mistakes we communicate love and we affirm that we care about each other’s feelings.
*”you’re cute” image from http://wymn.net/2007/07/21/whats-in-a-word/
