I totally forgot to do this during the week, so here I go a day late. I’m part of a blog tour for the new book by Dr. Gary Chapman, Love as a Way of Life. You may have heard at some point about the five love languages - Words of affirmation, Physical touch, Gifts, Acts of service, and Quality time. Dr. Chapman wrote a book several years ago on these 5 ways that people tend to give and receive love. Over time, though, he realized that even when people understood these different ways of giving and receiving love, if they didn’t have an attitude of love, they couldn’t - or wouldn’t - love others. So Dr. Chapman wrote Love as a Way of Life as the foundation for The Five Love Languages. He explores the following characteristics, which he sees as essential to being a truly loving person:
- kindness
- patience
- forgiveness
- courtesy
- humility
- generosity
- honesty
Dr. Chapman writes that a loving person must exhibit all 7 traits in order not to be lacking in his personal relationships. He spends a chapter on each trait, opening with a short quiz so that the reader can evaluate how well he lives out that particular characteristic, and closes each chapter with a series of reflective questions and challenges to apply to growing in that aspect of being a loving person. The meat of the chapters are filled with personal stories from his own life and many others, and practical truths about that trait. Towards the end of the book he writes on how to live a life of love in our marriages, workplaces, and families. Dr. Chapman is a Christian and he does use Scripture for support, but he writes this book to be applicable to both believers and unbelievers.
I’m still working through the book; currently I’m reading the chapter on courtesy. I’m enjoying this book because it is challenging me in such honest, down-to-earth, practical ways. While I would not describe myself as an unloving person, I cannot honestly say that I do a great job of being a loving person. I miss many opportunities to really love people, and whether that is due to busyness, insecurity, frustration, or just being tired, it is wrong. Because God has commanded me to love Him and others, I need to grow in these areas and really strive to live a life of love, be it in big ways or small. As I love others better I will be loving Jesus better as well.
For participating in this blog tour I was sent two books - one for me, and one for one of you. If you would like to receive a free copy of Love as a Way of Life , leave a comment describing some way that you have exibited one of the 7 traits above, or how you have been challenged to grow in that area. Go on, brag on yourself. It will encourage the rest of us! If you really hate doing that, write about how someone you know has exibited one of those traits. I’ll choose the winner through a random drawing next weekend (July 26).
You can also order this book from Amazon.com here.
It’s tempting to get frustrated when I have to repeat myself very many times, but it’s wonderful when the proverbial light bulb goes off.