As you may already know, there are many people who feel most loved when they hear words expressing love. The words “I love you” will be very important to them as well as the various dialects such as gratitude, words of encouragement, compliments, etc. They are great at speaking the words of their heart as well as feeling most loved through words.
What about God? Does God speak Words of Affirmations? Do these people feel loved by God and when and how?
This is actually one of the easiest languages to see how God speaks it. We have words of scriptures that are full of phrases about love. Often these people will feel God's love as they read the scriptures, as they listen to sermons, or even as they sing music about his love. If they aren't feeling loved by God, they may even feel more chastised by some of these as some parts of scripture can appear to be criticism. If they are not feeling God's love, then they would actually find it beneficial to immerse themselves in more of these activities. Spend time in scriptures and sermons. Reading or listening for God's love. During hard times, they are likely to have a phrase from a sermon or scripture come to mind to remind them of God's love, although this can happen for any type it will be more impactful for the words person.
To grow feelings of love in a relationship with God, it is good to speak your own language to God. For a words person, this could look like prayers full of gratitude and compliments for God's works. It could be what leads someone to be a preacher or speaker declaring God's love to others, spreading words of his love. They may also be inclined to join choirs expressing love through music. They are the choir members that really focus on the meaning of the words. They could write poetry, music, or other forms of declaring love to God.
I find it interesting to observe the people I interact with. I am in my church choir. Knowing what I know about love languages, I have seen three types of people end up in choirs the most. It's pretty easy to tell the words people because they rave about the words and the message being expressed. When they are the leader, they ask us to really think about the meaning of the words we are singing.
In my church, we have leaders that we call bishops. They get changed out about every five years. They are simply men being asked to serve as a leader for the congregation. They have no training in the clergy. They could have more or less training than the people they serve, just by the nature of their own studies in life. I had one such bishop that is obviously a words person.
This leader always referred people to articles put out by our church. He knew exactly where to find these words of wisdom and who said them. His awareness was uncanny. He was also prone to complimenting the congregation members and he gets really upset at the little word jabs some people do in jest. He's super sensitive to words. His sermons were always full of the love of God expressed in his words. He knew through what he read and heard that God loved him and he wanted everyone to know it and where to turn for that same feeling of love.
Some great questions that Dr. Chapman asks to help you discover your own language are these:
(1) How do I most often express my love to God? Are you expressing through the words you speak to and about Him? Are you using the words in a song to tell Him?
(2) What do I most often complain about to God? I think this line from the book is a great example for words people, “If someone complains that the pastor's sermons are rambling and meaningless, that person's primary love language probably is words of affirmation.” If you don't hear anything meaningful at church, you may question God's love for you.
(3) What do I request from God most often? If you are a words person, you may request wisdom or the right words to say. You might find yourself requesting messages.
Even if you aren't a words person, can you see your love language by asking these questions? Let me know in the comments.
If your primary or even your secondary love language is words of affirmation, how do you express love to God? How do you recognize his love for you? I would love to learn more so please let me know in the comments!
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With love from my heart to yours,
Michele