have you ever heard of dr. gary chapman? let me rephrase the question...have you heard of the book "the 5 love languages"? well dr. chapman is the author of that book. and let me tell you, it's a must read for any married couple or those about to be.
several years ago, kevin and i took a class based on this book, and it was eye opening to say the least. i never knew people spoke in different love languages. i just assumed if i was showing love the way i knew i wanted it to be shown to me, then that should be good, right? wrong! we learned so much in that study about ourselves and each other.
i speak the love language "acts of service". nothing tells me you love me more than laundry that's folded and put away or an empty dishwasher or beds with fresh linens that are made up just right! but i'm here to tell you if you even think for one second that my man wants to be shown love by neatly folded shirts or being able to see vacuum lines in the carpet (i think i just got weak in the knees) you are sadly mistaken. he doesn't speak that language. his love language is "physical touch". now i know what you're thinking...what man's language isn't? ok, ok people, it's not all sexual, trust me. he likes to hug and hold my hand. or sit on the couch with me with his arm draped over my legs. that's physical touch!
needless to say, we were on two totally different pages from the get go! i had to learn a new language people and i didn't do so well during the 2 semesters of french i took in high school!! but i will tell you once we started speaking the language of the other, our marriage went to a whole other level. ok this post isn't necessarily about the 5 love languages so you can read more about that book here.
what i did want to share is something i will be studying in the up coming months. our sunday school class studies from a book called "master work". each quarter is written by different renown bible teachers and scholars. some former contributors to this book have been beth moore, dr. henry blackaby and dr. gary chapman just to name a few.
now i will be honest, i haven't liked all of the ones we've studied. but the one we will be studying over the next couple months looks to be very interesting. it's called "love as a way of life" and it's written by dr. chapman based from his book titled the same. in this series dr. chapman breaks down what he believes are the seven characteristics of loving a person: kindness, patience, forgiveness, courtesy, humility, generosity, and honesty. in our study, we will take one characteristic per week and break it down according to the Scriptures.
let's face it, whether we want to be or not, we are all in relationships. whether it be with friends, spouses, parents, children, siblings, coworkers or neighbors. and for me, i know i fail miserably with at least one of these characteristics in every.single.relationship.
so i thought each week i would take something i've learned about each trait and the corresponding Scriptures and pass it along! now i don't know if it will be something i put at the end of a post or an entire post of its own. we'll work out the kinks as we go!
hope everyone has a great week!!
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