A while back, Gary Chapman wrote a book called The Five Love Languages. The theory is each of us speaks love in one of five languages –

  • Words of Affirmation
  • Acts of Service
  • Receiving Gifts
  • Quality Time
  • Physical Touch/Affection

Of course when Lisa and I read the book and took the test we were exact opposites! She’s a physical touch/affection love language and I’m a receiving gifts guy! As you can imagine, that makes our daily life interesting because we often are speaking different love languages; I can’t tell you how many times she returned something I’ve bought for her!

Obviously we all use some level of each of these five languages, but it’s usually one that stands out. While I’m biased as a gift guy I’ve come to the conclusion that God is a gift guy, too, showing His love for us by showing us with gifts.

Let me run through just some of the gifts He gives us that expresses His love for us:

  • John 3:16 – God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son…. We have forgiveness and salvation as a gift from God.
  • God gave us his Holy Spirit to indwell us; the Holy Spirit provides us revelation; prays for us the things we don’t know how to pray; convicts us when we’re screwing up; guides us; and helps us interpret God’s word so we know what it means to us in our daily lives.
  • God gives us spiritual gifts out of which our best ministry work comes.
  • God gives us spiritual fruit – peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
  • God gives us blessings in our lives, such as spouses, security and provision, personal transformation, healing, and more.
  • God gives us eternity together with Him.

If you look at your life you can probably see places where God has showed you His love by giving you something either tangible or perhaps not so tangible (grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, etc..). God is showing you each day through your life and His creation that He loves you.

But what if gifts is not your primary love language? Perhaps you’re someone who needs to see God’s love for you in a different way. That’s okay, God will speak to you as well!

You will find Affirming Words in God’s word- the Bible. You just have to pick it up and read it! God also will speak these affirming words to you in prayer!

The entire Christian faith is based on Acts of Service. If that is your love language, go out and serve someone in the name of Jesus and God’s love will flow through you.

God LOVES to spend Quality Time with you. Jesus tells us that wherever two or more are gathered in His name He will be there with us! You can spend quality time with God in prayer, in His word, in fellowship with other Christians, in serving, in working, and in pretty much any setting.

For those who need physical Touch/Affection, God will answer your need by putting that right person in your life who can be your partner, but there is a catch to this one. You need to be in relationship with the Lord first, and you need to make God the center of your earthly relationship for this part to work out the way God intends. I know many good Christian men and women for whom this has not happened and to them I would say pray that God helps prepare you for someone He will put in your life.

But back to gifts! Scripture tells us that it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) and that has been my experience. But it’s also been my experience that when I give I always receive some type of blessing back from the Lord. So I want to encourage you to count your blessings – write them down in a list and realize that the creator of the universe is showing you His love in all that He gives you.