Sunday, June 18, 2006

The true language of love

Vernon C. Grounds says in today's Daily Bread devotional that men should not be afraid to express their emotions.

Men, more than women, often find it difficult to express deep emotions. They may squelch the impulse to put their tenderest feelings into words.

This Father’s [sic] Day, many men will receive expressions of love, but they may have trouble voicing their love in return. Yet nothing is more masculine than to express love to our loved ones. That’s true not only for fathers but for all of us. We can bestow no gift more precious to those who are wrapped up with us in the bundle of life.


I think he's right, but we also have to be careful not to express our love in a mechanical, ritual way, simply because we feel it is our duty. Sometimes a man's way of expressing his emotions is not to simply say "I love you," but to show it in other ways. My own father is living proof that actions speak louder than words. He tells us that he loves us, but doesn't have to rely on that to make us believe that it's true. We know he loves us because he proves it to us every day. I think that people need to realize that just because someone is not speaking doesn't mean they are not communicating. Certainly, men need to make their love known with their words, but if a man truly loves his family, they should know it without it being said. I thank God for my dad, and pray that I will one day become as filled with God's love and as fluent in the language of actions as he is. Dad, I love you.

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