Page 242 - The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts

Have you seen that in your community? A teenager
runs away from home. The parents wring their hands,
saying, “How could he do this to us after all we have done
for him?” but the teenager is sixty miles down the road in
some counselor’s office, saying, “My parents don’t love me.
They have never loved me. They love my brother, but they
don’t love me.” Do the parents, in fact, love that teenager?
In the majority of cases, they do. Then what’s the problem?
Very likely, the parents never learned how to communicate
love in a language the child could understand.
Perhaps they bought ball gloves and bicycles to show
their love, but the child was crying, “Will someone play ball
with me? Will someone go riding with me?” The difference
between buying a ball glove and playing ball with a child
may be the difference between an empty love tank and a
full one. Parents can sincerely love their children (most do),
but sincerity is not enough. We must learn to speak the
primary love language of our children if we are to meet their
emotional need for love.
Let’s look at the five love languages in the context of
loving children.

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION

Parents typically give many affirming words when the
child is young. Even before the child understands verbal