DEVO: May 28 - #2 Speaking

If I speak in the tongues

of men and of angels,

but have not love,

I am only a resounding gong

or a clanging cymbal

1 Corinthians 13:1

 

Communication is obviously a powerful key to successful families. We need to talk. We need to listen. We need to be honest. We need to care.

 

What’s that famous phrase from that famous prayer from St. Francis of Assissi? ““Lord, grant that I may seek more to understand than to be understood.”

 

Yes, communication has obviously been key for hundreds of years! (Thousands of years when you look at all the admonishments toward kind words and communication in the scriptures.) But there’s a form of speaking that’s even more important than basic communication. It’s expressing love verbally.

 

The greatest thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. This powerfully instills a security in kids like nothing else. Husbands need to say, “I love you.” Wives need to whisper sweet nothings.

 

Parents also need to speak love to their children. They need to say they love them. Even silly terms of endearment are more than just silly. They bind families together!

 

Many people think they can get away with giving gifts or acts of service. Those are nice. Everyone has different love languages. But … because sometimes the actions of one are missed – or misread by the other – we need to speak our love too. Verbally. Frequently. Genuinely.

 

And while speaking love is important, there’s still one more form of speaking that’s more important.

 

It’s prayer.

 

Prayer – a form of communication – makes God a part of the family. And the closer we grow to God, the closer we grow to one another.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who was slow but persistent –

it took a lot of years to get

even somewhat proficient

with love languages