{Wedded Wednesday} "The 5 Love Languages"

Oh how I love my husband.

Last week we started a Bible study with the marriage ministry at church over the Gray Chapman's "The 5 Love Languages".

After the first week I was already feeling like poo. And the second week just did me in. Boy, do I have a lot of marital flaws, yikes! Even though some of the things aren't really funny at all, I am thankful that Jay and I can laugh through them and cut each other the "eyes" when he says something that hits close to home.

I am also thankful for the other young couples that sit at our table with us during this study and share their stories too. I think it always helps to hear what works for others that you might try and it will work for you too. Or, you can find your own way of tweaking that proposition and it works wonders!

Week 1 was titled "Learning to speak love". What are the 5 love languages? What is a love tank? Is your tank full? What about your spouses love tank, is it full? Here are the 5 love languages:

Words of Affirmation

Quality Time

Receiving Gifts

Acts of Service

Physical Touch

Luckily for us we are both in tune to what each other's love languages are and were able to guess them without definition. Mine is Acts of Service and Jay's is Physical Touch. If you do nothing else for your marriage or your spouse I highly recommend picking up this book for the simply joy of knowing what your love language is and what your spouses love language is. It will make a vast improvement on your daily communication! 

One of the most important things he said, in my opinion, is that if your spouses love tank is full you will never have to worry about them seeking a new spouse or greater things in a spouse because he will feel as though he has a new spouse already. Wow, how true are those words! Other great takeaways from week 1:

"Love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for yourself."

"When an action doesn't come naturally to you, it is a greater expression of love."

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."-Ephesians 5:31

Week 2 was titled Love Language One: Words of Affirmation. This is exactly what it sounds like. Simply put, postitive words of encouragement on a daily basis! That can't be so hard. But why is it?  Positive, ecourageing words build each other up, why can't we do this more often? This weeks takeaways:

Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Encourage one another and build each other up."

Hebrews 3:13 "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today."

I am so very grateful that we are doing this together and my prayer is that we both walk away with full love tanks and a deeper understanding of each others needs!

Praying for Jay: This week my prayer for Jay is that he will grow spiritually and consider his accountability before the Lord. That he will develop spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading and study, and prayer!

Do you pray for your spouse? Bless them by praying for them....