Are You Speaking God's Love Languages? Prt. 1

Are you familiar with Gary Chapman's book, "The Five Love Languages"? In his book, he outlines five ways that people in romantic relationships express love and commitment to each other, and he offers guidance on speaking and understanding your mate's love language. According to the book, when you speak your mate's love language that's when your mate feel's the most loved.

What if I told you that God has love languages too? What I mean is that there are specific things that God desires from you that speak love and commitment to Him.

What does this have to do with resetting your heart? Well, resetting your heart is not only about healing heart wounds. There's more to it than that. It also involves dismantling mindsets and behaviors that are contrary to His ways. Doing so is the key to having the most impact in the area that God has called you to. It requires you to delve deep into the recesses of your heart and regularly examine yourself.

Here are a few of, what I'm calling, God's Love Languages. Read them, but also take time to reflect and assess yourself to see if you've been speaking His language.

#1 OBEDIENCE

In John 14:15, Jesus links our devotion to Him with our ability to follow His instructions when He says, "If you love me obey my commandments."

In other words, friend, your ability to follow God's instructions reveals how much you love Him. According to this Scripture, If you struggle to obey God, you don't have an obedience problem, you have a love problem. Simply stated, you don't love God as much as you believe you do. If that sounds harsh, have a look at this. In 1 Samuel, it says that disobedience is as bad as the sin of idolatry.

"For rebellion is as [serious as] the sin of divination (fortune-telling), and disobedience is as [serious as] false religion and idolatry" 1 Samuel 15:23, AMP.

Think about that! Do you understand why it's as serious as idolatry? It's because you are rejecting God's will (what God has said) and replacing it with your own will.

Assessment Time: It's time to access yourself. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself in the area of OBEDIENCE to God? Before you answer that, I would like to remind you that delayed obedience and partial obedience = disobedience. I know...just say, "Ouch!" After you score yourself, dig deeper by asking yourself this, "During the time that I was disobedient, whose voice was I giving preference to?" Was it greed, fear & anxiety, family, culture, or something else? Remember friend, your obedience speaks love and devotion to God.

#2 FAITH

In addition to obedience, 1 Peter 5:5-6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is the foundation of our relationship with God. It takes faith to even believe in His existence much less commit your entire life to Him. I would venture to say that a person who struggles with faith also struggles with obedience because it takes faith to obey the voice of God, especially when His instructions go against human logic. Think about something that you've been trusting God to do. That thing that seems impossible. Deep down on the inside, do you REALLY believe that He is going to do it? It's easy to talk about having faith, teach about it, and preach about it, but demonstrating faith 'when the rubber meets the road' and what you're facing seems insurmountable is quite another story. But having faith that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do, is pleasing to Him. Your faith in God speaks love and commitment to Him, without it you can't please Him.

Assessment Time: It's time to pause and do an inward check. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself when it comes to having FAITH? Don't feel bad if you scored low, the purpose of this is not to bring condemnation but rather to bring enlightenment and spur you into making adjustments.

#3 HUMILITY

1 Peter 5:5 AMP says, "...for God is opposed to the proud [disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], But He gives grace to the humble." In other words, when you walk in pride, rather than empower you, God sets Himself against you. And that would explain why Proverbs 16:18 says, " Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall."

Now, before you say, "I'm not prideful," let me share with you just how sneaky pride is. Pride will actually cause you to believe that you are not prideful! When you're prideful, it's like walking around with blinders on, it keeps you from seeing your true self. Can I be human with you (Lol!)? While writing this, God showed me areas of pride in my own life! That's right. I'm assessing myself in each of these areas as I write this.

A Few Signs of Pride:

1. You make excuses when corrected.

2. When questioned, You say, "Don't you think I know what I'm doing?"

3. You struggle to admit you're wrong.

4. You don't listen to the ideas or wisdom of those you lead.

5. You often answer "I know, I know, or "I already know that."

Assessment Time: Okay, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself in the area of HUMILITY? Since pride can blind you from seeing your true self, I recommend you ask a loved one or a close friend to help you with this one.

Always remember that He loved you first. He is the lover of your soul and the lifter of your head, Daughter. You must be willing to go to the depths of your heart, the hidden places, and deal with anything that could come between you and Him. Purpose to speak God's love languages to Him and enjoy deeper connections as your heart is unleashed.