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What's Your Spiritual Love Language?

As a leader, our love relationship with the Lord is second to none. All of our other relationships and responsibilities flow from that one vital connection. We’re familiar with Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages book – the concept of individuals having preferences in giving and receiving love. I think the same can be said of our relationship with the Lord – that we each have preferred ways of connecting with Him. That’s great, with the caveat that we don’t want to allow them to become stale. So let’s assess our spiritual love languages and see what areas may need some revitalization.  

I recently became aware of an area needing revitalization in my own relationship with the Lord. I joined 2500 people at a worship concert, and as the first strains of music permeated the sanctuary my eyes brimmed with tears. Oh, how I’d missed being with God for an evening of live corporate worship! Song by song, fresh living water hydrated my soul, and I wasn’t even aware of being dry. My times with the Lord through prayer and Bible reading were rich and real. Even so, I left the concert with a new intention to spend more time with God in musical worship privately and corporately.

If you’re like me, you can feel content with your relationship with God without realizing you’ve drifted from other dynamic ways of being with Him. Let’s take a look.

How Do You Typically Engage with God?

Glance through this list and assess how you’re inclined to spend time with God.

1) Bible reading and meditation.

2) Prayer and/or journaling.

3) Worship – through music or creativity.

4) Communing with God in nature.

5) Church - spiritual teaching and fellowship with others.

Look through the list again and rank them from most to least – according to which you spend the most time doing and find most valuable. What’s at the top of your list? Is it an active, life-giving exchange between you and God? And how about the bottom of the list? When was the last time you enjoyed being with God in that way?

Ever since that worship concert, I’ve been pulling up worship You Tubes on my phone, plugging in earphones, and worshiping in my family room. It’s been every bit as intimate and powerful as the live corporate event. Worshiping through music is a preferred way of relating to God, for me. I just needed to be reminded of that, and then to intentionally enter in as God prompts.

Having “go to” ways of connecting with God is natural, and it’s also natural for them to ebb and flow. Thankfully, God has an endless supply of living water to keep us hydrated in Him. As a leader, when you intentionally cultivate a vibrant relationship with God, it becomes the wellspring from which you draw.

“When leaders cultivate a vibrant relationship with God, it becomes the wellspring from which they draw.”

- Lisa Hosler

When you have a few minutes, listen to this David Crowder song – This I Know – a simple prayer about renewing our intimacy with God. Here’s the chorus:

Take me up to where I was

When I never wanted more than You

Lift me up to feel Your touch

It wouldn’t be that much for You

Father, You know how You’ve hot-wired each of us to connect with You, and You know how You want to round out and deepen that relationship. Today, please lead us into a fresh, life-giving way of encountering You.  

Which spiritual love language has God emphasized in your life recently? Feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.


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Lisa Hosler. All rights reserved.
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