Have you ever stopped to think about what love languages some of your favorite Bible characters communicated in? I was thinking through some possibilities, and it’s kinda fun and intriguing to consider. Let’s start with an easy one… Remember Joseph’s famous coat of many colors that he received from his father, Jacob? Surely Jacob’s love language was gift-giving. Genesis 37:3 literally says Jacob, who had been renamed Israel, loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age. As an expression of his love, Israel gave Joseph, and only Joseph, an ornate robe. Can you think of any other Biblical characters who valued gift giving as a way to express love? I thought about the three wise men who came to visit and honor Jesus after His birth. Matthew 2 tells the story of their visit and mentions the gifts they presented—gold, frankincense and myrrh. Perhaps giving gifts was their love language! 

Or what about Judas Iscariot? He was in charge of the money as Jesus and His disciples traveled and ministered, and he demonstrated his value for financial gifts after Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. Judas was indignant that Mary had essentially “wasted” the expensive ointment. He said the perfume could have been sold for a large sum of money, and the money could have been given to the poor. Although we wonder about Judas’ heart and motivation (since we know he later betrayed Jesus), this still seems to indicate that he placed value on giving gifts. Mary, on the other hand, poured out this entire bottle of valuable perfume on Jesus’ feet as an act of her own personal love for Him. My first instinct was to call that an act of service and assume that was her love language! But maybe it was giving gifts. What do you think? 

Obviously, our knowledge about Bible characters is limited, so we can make guesses and assumptions, but they’re just that—guesses and assumptions. What would you guess Peter’s love language to be? I was thinking it might be words of affirmation. Especially in his early life, Peter sometimes seemed to be all talk. He loved saying that he loved Jesus and would do anything for Him—even die. He expressed His love to Jesus with his words! Did he back up those words with actions? Well, that’s another story for another day. Regardless, Peter was quick to make promises and express his affection for Jesus verbally. 

Another intriguing person to think about is Ruth from the Old Testament. Remember Ruth? Her husband died, as well as her brother-in-law, leaving Naomi, her mother-in-law, childless (except for her two sons’ widows). Naomi told her daughters-in-law to go back home to their own families and that she would fend for herself, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi’s side. As their life stories roll on, we see Ruth serving Naomi through the gift of her presence. Ruth also went to work to provide for Naomi. So maybe her love language was acts of service? She gave up the chance to return to her own family and served Naomi instead of abandoning her, even though she’d been given permission to do so. 

Okay, one more… What do you think about Paul? Paul’s life was so colorful and sometimes complicated. But a quick thought toward the big picture of his life leads me to think that his love language may have been quality time. After his conversion to Christianity, Paul spent years of his life on missionary journeys, traveling from town to town starting churches, encouraging young believers, teaching them how to live for Jesus, and building them up in their faith. Reading through the New Testament books Paul wrote, you can tell how much he loved spending time with his “students,” if you will, how sad he often was when he needed to leave them, and how much he longed to get back to them when he was away. I think he showed his love through quality time!

Now like I said before, all of these thoughts are just guesses. Obviously I never knew any of these people from Bible times personally. I’m sure there were parts of their personalities that we could never know just from reading the pages of Scripture! But it’s fun to think about what their love languages might have been. It’s also fun to think about my own personal preferences and realize that maybe I don’t necessarily fall in one strict lane. Yes, I love spending quality time with people as an expression of love, but I also have a whole folder of screenshots in my phone of text messages people have sent me that were special and meaningful in some way. Words of affirmation also mean something to me! 

When it comes to Jesus, we don’t have to guess and wonder. Put the words “Jesus” and “love” together in one sentence, and my mind usually goes straight to the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. He showed us His love in undeniable fashion through the gift of His very life. But how does Jesus long to receive love from us? John 14 spells it out very clearly, three different times. 

“If you love me, keep my commands.” -John 14:15

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” -John 14:21

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” -John 14:23

Obedience is Jesus’ love language. I study the Bible through Bible Study Fellowship, and we are studying the book of John this year. When we got to John 14, our lesson notes quoted these exact words, and they resonated deeply in my heart when I read them. Obedience is Jesus’ love language. We don’t have to wonder what He wants us to do to demonstrate our love and affection for Him! He wants us to obey His Word, and He made that point very clearly as He spoke to the disciples not long before His death. 

Can we also do other things to tangibly express our love for Jesus? Of course! We can serve in our churches and communities, we can worship Him at church on Sundays, we can speak about Him to other people, we can give tithes and offerings, we can spend intimate time with Him, and the list goes on. But John 14 tells us that when it comes down to it, we show our love for Jesus by obeying Him. Do you know Jesus’ commands and instructions well enough to obey them? If not, how can you become more familiar with them? By reading, studying and meditating on the Bible, of course. It’s hard to obey someone if you don’t know what they said to do in the first place.

Along with obeying the words of Scripture, as disciples of Jesus, we can also obey the instructions He gives us personally through the Holy Spirit. Have you sensed Him telling you to befriend a certain acquaintance or coworker? Has He instructed you to put a lock on a specific door of temptation in your life? Has He told you to step out in courageous faith and accept a new job? Or is He nudging you to serve in a new way at church? The best way for you to show your love for Jesus is by obeying what He’s telling you to do. Remember, you probably won’t actually hear Jesus speaking audible words. But He will prompt and prod you through the Holy Spirit. Pray that your heart will be tuned to hear His voice so you can express your love through obedience. When Jesus spells something out that clearly for us, what an incredible privilege to be able to respond in love.