'Who's on first?'

While looking through some old video clips yesterday I came across the famous Abbott and Costello routine ?Who?s On First.? It made me think about a major issue plaguing people today. That major issue is miscommunication. This is especially true in the area of marriage and family. More specifically, in the area of love and the expression of love.

In 1 Corinthians we read that ?And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.?

1 Corinthians 13:13. If love is the greatest, then we should do everything in our power to communicate it properly. It was love that moved Jesus Christ to die on a cross for our sins. It was love that motivated him to heal the sick. Today, he is still motivated by love. Love never fails.

The conflict arises when someone expresses love in a way that is foreign. For example: I may vacuum the house for my wife, and she may say thank you, but my wife receives love through words of affirmation. I did a good thing but it didn?t express love. Words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and gifts are all ways of expressing love.

To truly express love properly, we must figure out how the other person receives love. The failure to recognize that leads to confusion and not feeling appreciated for the efforts we are making. Everyone wants to feel valued and affirmed. Relationships such as spouses, friends, and even professional relationships such as supervisor to employee can benefit from the proper expression of value and worth.

If you would like to dig deeper into this subject or have questions, join us Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for our new five-week series called ?You?re Speaking My Language? or you can check out Gary Chapman?s book The Five Love Languages. Remember love never fails.