Communicating Love to a Woman

What Communicates Love to Women? (Part Two) by Barbara Rainey

The Song of Solomon 2:16 "My beloved is mine, and I am his."

As Dennis wrote in the last devotional, the best way to learn what says "I love you" to your wife is to ask her. But to give you a little more help, we surveyed 800 people at our FamilyLife Marriage Conferences. Here is our top 10 list, in reverse order, of what communicates romantic love to women.

10. Holding hands. To a woman, this simple act communicates closeness. It says, "I want to be close to you and I like you."

9. Massage. Many woman are reluctant to ask their husbands for foot rubs or back rubs because they know that most men tend to see massage as sexual foreplay. But women often enjoy massages with no strings attached.

8. Acts of servanthood and sacrifice. Sometimes it's as simple as opening the door for your wife or cleaning the dishes after dinner. When a husband denies himself, even in little ways, he tells her he cares about her and he wants to make her feel special.

7. A kiss. It's interesting that men ranked this higher than women. I suspect women would rank kissing higher if they didn't know from experience that their husbands usually don't want to stop with a kiss.

6. Taking a walk together. Again, this is not usually high on men's lists. It's very relational. When you go for a walk with your husband, you are taking a break from daily responsibilities and distractions. You're away from the telephone and the television, away from children, away from work. It allows you to focus on the relationship in a nonthreatening way.

After looking at this part of the list, I was struck with how God has made women different from one another. And how, as a woman, different things communicate romantic love to me at different times. But we all have one thing in common, we want to feel that our husbands love us.

Prayer:
That God would develop within you the desire to communicate love to your wife without any expectation of her response.

Discuss:
Look over this devotion with your wife and ask her, "Which of these items most communicate love to you?"