As this holiday season is nearing the destination of Christmas and New Years, how are you choosing to live in peace and love? How are you sharing the Good News?
It’s so easy to get into the frantic mindset of all the events leading up to the holidays as well as the feelings you have about what gifts you are giving.
I want to simplify that for you. How about thinking about giving your gifts from the “language of love” your recipient receives from?
Sometimes you work so hard to figure out the right things to give, only to be left feeling unappreciated or not valued for what you gave. These feelings can be changed when your focus is on how the person you are giving receives. That is usually backwards for most of us. Often gifts are given from what you love.
What if instead you shifted your focus to how they receive?
In the Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman, he talks about the necessity to understand how each person in a relationship receives love. Because often, you feel like the other person doesn’t get you, doesn’t really know what you like. Generally, left frustrated because what they do doesn’t speak to your needs. For greater love and understanding of the people you share this life with, check into his five languages of love.
They are:
- Acts of Service
- Physical Touch
- Words of Affirmation
- Receiving Gifts
- Quality Time
“He suggests there are three ways to discover your own primary love language:
- What does your spouse do or fail to do that hurts you most deeply? The opposite of what hurts you most is probably your love language;
- What have you most often requested of your spouse? This is likely the thing that would make you feel most loved; and,
- In what ways do you regularly express love to your spouse? Your method may be an indicator of how you want to be loved.”
(To find out what your love language is and others in your life, visit www.5lovelanguages.com and take the quiz.)
So for me, my husband loves acts of service. What acts of service can I do for him this holiday season? I can give him “tickets” of things I will do for him that I know he appreciates such as empty his suitcase from our travels, help him with the computer or get the beer for his geriatric biking group celebration. When he sees those tickets, he will know that I value what he loves. Then it makes me feel really good that I can feel the joy he has from receiving something HE loves. It’s a win, win, greater love and deeper connections.
What’s it for you and those you are sharing time and gifts with this holiday season? The Languages of Love is the gift that keeps on giving. Take time to know what matters to them.
So as you are finalizing your GIFTS for this holiday season, use the “good news” of the languages of love as your guide.
Let me know if you could feel the good news of more peace and love by sharing from their language of love. Post what your language of love is in our Facebook group.
Happy Holidays!