Friday Nurturing Content - 02/23/24

Happy Friday, Friend!

We’re in our final week of February and continuing right along with our theme of loving God and loving others!

Over the course of this month, we’ve focused on God’s love for us, what it means for us to love God, and also how to to love ourselves.

Today, we’re going to look at how to love others.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” -John 13:34

 “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” -1 John 4:20

The love we show others is a direct reflection of God’s love for us. When we are loving toward our fellow man, we demonstrate, in a tangible way, God’s love for all humanity. As the well-known saying goes: “You may be the only Jesus some people ever see.”

Furthermore, our love for others is our response to God’s love. How we love others—our family members, our neighbors, our co-workers, our bosses, our fellow churchgoers—is a direct correlation to how much we truly love God. Simply put, if we love Him in return, we love our neighbor.

So, how do we love others?! There are countless ways we can show others in our lives that we care about them and that we love them. We can listen without interrupting. We can forgive quickly. We can be patient. We can keep our promises. We can be generous. We can say kind things. We can give our undivided attention and devotion.

And, while all of the above are generally good ways to show love to any and everybody, different people do prefer to receive love in different ways. When you learn how to understand those preferences and, then, how to recognize those preferences in your loved ones, your friends, your family (or even your co-workers), you can absolutely love them better and demonstrate God’s love to them through your words and actions.

How do we learn and understand these preferences, though?

Thankfully, author, speaker, and counselor, Gary Chapman, has already done all the heavy work for us! His book, The 5 Love Languages, outlines five primary ways that people express and experience love. According to Chapman, learning these preferences for yourself and for your loved ones can help to identify the root of relational conflict, strengthen connection, and improve communication.

Let’s take a look at the 5 Love Languages:

1. Words of Affirmation: Expressing affection through verbal affirmations, compliments, and words of encouragement. (Proverbs 16:24)

2. Acts of Service: Demonstrating love through actions and deeds, such as helping with chores, running errands, or doing something thoughtful for the other person. (Galatians 5:13; Philippians 2:4)

3. Receiving Gifts: Feeling loved through the giving and receiving of gifts, whether they are big or small, tangible or intangible. (James 1:17; Matthew 7:11)

4. Quality Time: Feeling connected and loved by spending meaningful, uninterrupted time together, engaging in activities or simply being present. (Psalm 27:4)

5. Physical Touch: Feeling loved through physical gestures like hugs, kisses, holding hands, or other forms of physical affection. (Song of Solomon 2:6; Ecclesiastes 3:5)

While the original bestseller was written for romantic relationships, Chapman now has an entire series that is devoted to couples, families, singles, and even men and teenagers. He even has a book titled, The Love Languages of God. The bottom line is that these books are for all relationships!

If you’re curious about the different love languages and/or want to know more about them, you can check out their official website. Here, you can take quizzes to help you understand your own primary love language or find resources and tools that can help you show love to others in a way they can receive it and feel loved.

I pray you discover a new way to love others and are able to show them that love today!

Dedicated to your success,

Tam

P.S. Don’t forget about the Monthly Challenge! We’re on our final love letter. This one is meant to be written for someone else. This can be your spouse, child, dear friend, neighbor, or even a stranger. You don’t even have to send it—but you can if you’d like to! Just make sure it’s meaningful and written with love from the heart.