What Is God’s Love Language?
Have you read the book, The Five Love Languages?
It’s a rather insightful book. It was written by relationship counselor Gary Chapman in 1995.
He said we all tend to show love — and prefer to receive love — in five distinct ways. And quite often, a failure to understand how your mate prefers to receive it can cause conflict and feelings of being unloved and misunderstood.
What are these five love languages?
- Words of affirmation
- Quality time
- Acts of service
- Gifts
- Physical touch
So, what do you think is your love language? How about your mate or the people you love?
Here’s a far more important question:
What is God’s love language? How does He prefer to receive love?
Believe it or not, God’s primary love language is none of the above.
- Words of affirmation are great, but Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) said in Mark 7:6–7: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
- Quality time is great, but all our worship and prayers are all in vain if we are praying to the wrong god — like the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:25–29) — or if God isn’t even listening (Isaiah 59:1–2). But if we are addressing the one true God, and have His undivided attention, even a short, 20-second prayer like Elijah’s is all you need.
- Acts of service are great, but our Lord prophesied that there will be many people who will prophesy and preach in His name, cast out demons in His name, and do many wonders in His name who will still be rejected by Him (Matthew 7:21–23).
- Gifts are great, but even both gifts and sacrifices cannot make the person who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience (Hebrews 9:9).
- Physical touch is great, but even Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss (Luke 22:48).
The Most Consistent Theme Running Through the Bible
So what is God’s love language?
It’s loving obedience. It’s the constant, most consistent theme running through the Bible.
One morning many years ago, I took up the challenge by my friend Joshua to read the Bible through in one year. I have read the Bible through before, but I wanted to do it again.
While reading Genesis 1–3 and Matthew 1, I asked myself: What’s the most important message or lesson I can learn from these four chapters? I wanted only one main point.
The most obvious one — the most powerful one that stood out — was OBEDIENCE.
God gave the first man, Adam, a very clear command in Genesis 2:16–17:
Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
How many times have we deliberately disobeyed God’s clear instructions? How many times have we allowed Satan to inject doubt about what God really said? How many times have we allowed other people or loved ones to talk us out of obeying God?
I admit I have been guilty of this too at times. But there’s no escaping the fact that this is how God determines how much we love Him. Not by words of affirmation, not by quality time, not by acts of service, not by gifts, and not by physical touch.
God’s love language is OBEDIENCE.
Our Savior couldn’t be any clearer in John 14:15:
If you love me, keep My commandments.
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me (John 14:21).
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
This year 2024, let’s demonstrate an even greater LOVE for God by obeying Him — in the big things as well as the little things.
The greatest commandment, after all, is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Study your Bible daily this year. Now — today — is the perfect time to start reading it from cover to cover. Talk to God also in daily prayer this year.
And finally, obey God faithfully. He will certainly bless you more for it!
