Five Love Languages

The book The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Last by Gary Chapman talks about how to improve your marriage by loving your spouse how they want to be loved, not just by how you think you should love them. The book starts out with on page eleven with the chapter, “What Happens to Love After the Wedding.” Chapman tells his first story of the book that starts to talk about what he does and why it works. He is talking to a man on a plane who wonders why none of his three marriages lasted even though they were in love. Gary Chapman tells the readers that there are five primary love languages: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Each spouse will most likely have a different love language, and the key is to know what your partner’s is so that when you are loving towards them, it will mean significantly more for them. The man on the plane thought he was be very loving in each of the marriages, wanting it to work; however, even though he was

Gifts do not have to be extravagant, but they are a reminder of love to a spouse who’s love language is receiving gifts. “Visual symbols of love are more important to some people than others” (Chapman 77). The gift could be as little as a candy bar because while you were filling up your car at the gas station, you saw their favorite candy. The fact that you thought about them enough to get them their favorite candy bar is what makes the difference. It is not the physical act of getting them a present; it is the act of showing you think about them throughout the day. Instead of thinking negatively about spending money on your spouse, think of it as an investment. “You are investing in your relationship and filling your spouse’s emotional love tank, and with a full love tank, he or she will likely reciprocate emotional love to you in a language you will understand” (Chapman