The Love Languages of God: How to Feel and Reflect Divine Love (Ay Insp - Chapman, Gary)

Rating:
Summary: A true eyeopener
Review: I had heard about the 5 love languages before and I thought I was pretty sure about which mine was. When I saw this book about Gods love languages I was curious, because I have trouble experiencing His love on a daily bases.

Through this book I haven't just learned what my love language is (not the one I thought, but the one my heart speaks) it has also explained so much more to me about human relationships and Gods desire to love us, on a daily bases! And how those two work hand in hand. It has taught me how to show my friends and family that I love them in their language and it showed me different ways that God expresses His love to us. Besides that it challenged me to love those I normally would walk away from because I don't know how to relate to them.

If you look for a theological, religious or an psychological book you are in the wrong place. But if you are looking for a book that will transform you in your heart and mind into a more loving person, to yourself, God and others, this is the best book for it! Besides the Bible of course :-). We all know how difficult it can be to read and understand the bible sometimes, this book will make it easier for you, because you will learn more about the character of God and how He wants to relate to you in your life with your specific needs.

I have read few books like this one that have had a deep impact in my life!

I strongly recommend it to anyone who longs for closeness in their relationships with others and with God!!

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, Amazing
Review: I read the original "The Five Love Languages" and thought that it was really inspiring and something that I could definely apply to my life.

If you've already read "The Five Love Languages", you may feel like you are getting ripped off and that Chapman is just taking a concept that he has already established and applying it to other situations to make a buck. CONTINUE TO READ THE BOOK!

I read this book several months ago, and have given it little thought. Then I gave the book to a friend, because I think that it is something that even those who have been Christians for quite some time can take a look at.

I think that this book is a must-read for new Christians who may have lost the initial feeling they had about being saved. I've been a Christian since I was 8, but I recently decided to make being a Christian my way of life from here on out. I remember when I rededicated my life to Christ, it was great. Then, I walked out of the church, into the real depraved world.

What was really inspiring in this book is that no matter what you've done in life, you can ask God to forgive you, and He will. Though we may know that, sometimes, we need someone else to actually say it.

The examples for Scripture are awesome. When I was done with each chapter, I would go through the Bible and see how God, Jesus, the disciples, or God's people used "Words of Affirmation", "Physical Touch", "Quality Time", "Gifts" and "Acts of Service" to show their love for God or man.

One of the parts that was truly amazing to me was the chapter "When Love Seems Distance". It discusses why we sometimes feel that God doesn't love us. For one, it can be that we are straying from God.

My one complaint with this book is that all of the references to Scripture are as endnotes at the back of the book. In Chapman's other books, the Bible version that is references is in parentheses or the text of the verse is on the page. So, in order to know where in the Bible a verse was coming from, I had to flip to the back of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Good foundation information
Review: OK, when I first started reading this book, I enjoyed it. And I thought I would really enjoy where it was going. I actually recommended it to several friends (a recommendation I now regret). That opinion changed rather quickly as the book continued on and on without much to say.

The book started off with Chapman briefly explaining why he thinks some of us feel more connected to God in certain ways (ie., study, worship, prayer, ...). He argues that this is a result of each of us having a primary love language. And consequently we relate to God best in our own language. This was, in my opinion, a very promising insight. It goes a long way in explaining why my wife and I have different responses to worship and service. To her, service is a joy, worship is a duty. To me, it's vice versa. I think Chapman was on to something.

He then goes on, in the next five chapters, to show how God displays each of the five love languages. These chapters, although not very insightful, do offer decent support for his originally theory. Unfortunately, however, the book could have ended right here. Because after this, the next 5 or so chapters seem like one big promotion for Chapman's Five Love Languages book(s) and lecture series.

I also felt as though Chapman was searching for something significant to write about in these closing chapters. He seems to have run out of material for his original thesis and now just begins writing about anything that relates to love. Which reminds me, the chapter on discipline was very disappointing. At one point Chapman actually suggests that a man lost his children as a judgement of God. Now, I'm not going to debate God's sovereignty in all things nor suggest that God does not have the right over life and death. But to claim that this man losing his children was judgement from God is a leap of faith I'm not going to take.

All in all, the book is poor, but not terrible. If you keep in mind that Chapman is a psychologist and not a theologian, you may find some very helpful information here. But don't expect any grand revelations concerning love or God in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good foundation information
Review: This book provides insight for relating to others in our lives. The 5 concepts of how we show and receive love are eye-opening. If you take nothing else from this book, that makes it worth the read. I have read many self-help books and believe you will gain new insight from this theory.

However, I do agree with the previous reviewer on information later in the book. The 5 Love Languages concept gets muddled in the final chapters of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: When I first read the original "Five Love Languages" book I kept thinking, "Gee, this should be applied to the various ways we can express our love to God. God certainly desires quality time with us, etc." So I was delighted when I saw that Mr. Chapman had written a follow-up book that seemed to address this topic. But I was disappointed to find out that the main thrust of this book was "How to feel God's love for you" instead of "How to express your love to God." Personally, I'm tired of all these "Get all you can get from God" books. It's not about us, people! Stop being so selfish and thinking about God as your own personal genie in the sky who only wants to bless you. Try blessing Him for a change.

Anyway, I quickly lost interest in this book. It was just filled with a bunch of "endearing" stories about how people figured out how much God loved them. If you're into that then buy this book.