The 5 Love Languages
by
Gary Chapman
The five love languages, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, hold the secret to lasting love. Dr. Chapman has observed, through 35 years of pastoral and marital counseling, that everyone expresses and understands love in different ways. Just as an English-speaking person and a Chinese-speaking person will have trouble communicating, two people who speak different love languages will struggle to understand one another. Relationships end up strained when a language barrier between people’s expressions of love leaves them feeling misunderstood, frustrated, or even unloved.
Love is the most important word in the English language—and the most confusing. #DrGaryChapman #5LoveLanguages #TheHeartoftheAuthor #podcast Click To TweetDr. Chapman identifies five ways people express love and feel love:
-
- Words of Affirmation – Being told that you are loved, valued, and appreciated
- Quality Time – Spending one-on-one time together with undivided attention
- Receiving Gifts – Gifts are not just material things, but tangible expressions of love
- Acts of Service – Someone going out of their way to do something for you
- Physical Touch – Showing love through affection and physical closeness and intimacy
We all use each of these love languages to some extent, but one usually stands out as the most important to us. If you’re not sure, think about the ways you usually express love, care, or appreciation to others. If you’re always offering advice or words of encouragement, your language may be words of affirmation. Or if you love to do things for others to help them, acts of service may be your love language. Sometimes, though, it’s not so clear cut. We may express our love in a different way than we prefer to receive it. And within each love language, there are different dialects.
The book explains the love languages and their nuances in detail, and at the end, provides a quiz to help determine your own preference. With this information, you can learn to recognize these differences in your own relationships and to communicate more effectively with one another.
Listen in iTunes
Podcast archives
