Morality Monday--Valentine's Day is for Love

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35)

Since Valentine’s Day is this week, we’re taking a break from letters of the alphabet to devote the whole week to this holiday (we’ll do this with every holiday). So, in honor of Valentine’s Day, our attribute for the week is Love. As moms, we spend a lot of time focusing on showing love to our children in a variety of ways, but sometimes, we tend to forget about our spouses. Use this week to find the best way to show love to your husband. One of our favorite books on this topic is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Read the excerpts below to discover your love language and your spouse’s love language. Then, work on finding creative ways to speak this language to your husband!

Excerpted from www.fivelovelanguages.com:

The Five Love Languages

The basic idea is that each of us has a primary love language. Almost never does a husband and wife have the same love language. In order to keep emotional love alive after we come down off the "in love" high, we must learn to speak each other's language. The five love languages are: Words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time, and physical touch.

Words of Affirmation
Mark Twain once said “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” 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.

Quality Time
Quality time is more than mere proximity. It’s about focusing all your energy on your mate. A husband watching sports while talking to his wife is NOT quality time. Unless all of your attention is focused on your mate, even an intimate dinner for two can come and go without a minute of quality time being shared.

Quality conversation is very important in a healthy relationship. It involves sharing experiences, thoughts, feelings and desires in a friendly, uninterrupted context…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.

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.

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.

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.

Go to here to read more about the Five Love Languages and to purchase a copy!

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