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The Love Language of Words | Peggy Wright
The Love Language of Words

Love is the soil out of which healthy life is supported and grows into fullness.  It is essential for emotional health.  Unconditional love becomes a constant source of security and significance. Without it the soul starves.


Message of unconditional love: “Nothing you can do would make me love you more… and nothing you could do would make me love you less.” 


Yet, sometimes our efforts to demonstrate care aren’t received as love!  “I do the laundry, I cook dinner, I say kind words… what do you mean you don’t feel loved?!?” 


How do we speak “I love you” in language that is received as fuel for the emotional tank. 


Our experience of love is all about finding ways to help fill the Emotional Tank:

Learning to speak a person's primary love language radically affects attitudes, behaviour and a sense of security.  We behave differently when our love tank is full. As partners, friends, parents, teachers we choose to learn to speak the preferred language of the people we love. Love is a choice to learn to fuel the tank.

Words of Affirmation: 

“The tongue has the power of life and death.” The person with this preference is fuelled by appreciation, compliments, & affirmation. One definition of ‘encourage’ is: “to inspire courage.” Criticism will feel harsher to a person with this love language. Be gentle when offering correction or asking for change. 


Words of affirmation is one of my favourite ways to give and receive love. At camp, I loved when we made encouragement posters where we put our name in the middle of the page and then passed it around for people to affirm positive things we saw in each other. We called them warm fuzzies - and that is always how I felt when I read over the messages from my peers. I always put up one of these posters in my locker to remind me of my best self when high school started to feel numbing.


How to speak the love language Words of Affirmation: 

Compliment them in the presence of others, Affirm their strengths, Brag about your children or your spouse, Study encouragement, Write a love note. 

*When it feels foreign to speak this language just remind yourself that this is what makes your loved one feel full. To them, words are important. Your intention matters more than your fluency. 


Oils that pair well with this language: 

Emotional Support oils + affirmations spoken over us daily.

- I say these affirmations to fill my own tank as I need it. But I love when someone else speaks them over me. 

When you’re feeling:

+ Angry or Negative: Purification - “I release anger and choose laughter”

+ Exhaustion or Pain: PanAway - “I nurture myself”

+ Insecure or Overwhelmed: Valor - “God is with me and gives me strength & courage”

+ Fear: Frankincense - “I am valued and directed”

+ Criticized or Nervous: Lavender - “I receive unconditional love & acceptance”

+ Sad: Joy - “the Spirit of Joy is my strength and my song”

+ Worried or Weak: White Angelica - “a lot of what weighs you down isn’t yours to carry”- “I am protected and shielded from the negative emotions of others.”

+ Stressed or Facing Failure: Peppermint - “I accept growth and peace”


*Diffuse your choice of oils to create a calm space

*Apply to your wrist and/or over your heart or wherever you feel the emotion.

*Put 1-2 drops into your left hand and rub hands together to warm the oil then cup hands over nose and breathe in deeply and out slowly.


I'm realizing that one of the reasons certain scriptures speak life to me is that they root my sense of self and worth in words of affirmation from the One who made me. If you relate to this, check out these passages and start your own collection to speak over your life. Zephaniah 3:17, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 27:13-14, Psalm 139, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 103.



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My Story - Turning Health Challenges Around

 
I was twenty-two years old and felt like 90. 

Every day I would get out of bed not knowing if I could make it to my 4th year classes. 
Some days I would shower and by the time I finished I felt dizzy, sleepy, and my muscles felt like lead. Sometimes I would be so weak that I had to crawl on all fours back to my bedroom to lay down again. I would get 12-14 hours of restless sleep that would leave me feeling like a truck hit me. I ached all over and my head felt like it would burst with the pounding pain. I was really sick - for months... and then years.    

My adult life was just beginning and I'd been handed a life sentence of chronic illness.   

I got married that fall to Lance Wright, my very supportive and understanding husband. He and I talked about taking a year off - no schedule - to allow my body to recover. I was on a downward spiral and had no answers about how to turn it around. My world shrunk - fast.  

But as my outward world shrunk, I was determined to grow my inner world through reading, prayer, and writing. I knew the diagnosis I'd been given wasn't the end of my story. I trusted that I'd find the steps needed to heal.   

One day as I was asking God to heal me, I got a picture in my mind of a drooping flower bound tightly by weeds. A flash of understanding came with it. I felt as if God was saying, "Healing will be a slow process. Trust me and I will lead you to part of the weed to loosen its hold and remove its influence." This became the perfect symbol for my wellness journey - bit by bit finding healing steps and feeling life and strength return.  

Part of my wellness picture was uncovering trauma that had taught my mind and body that I wasn't safe. So the safety of my relationship with Lance was the starting point for the hard work of healing. When I would get discouraged about how little I could accomplish each day, Lance would remind me that my full-time job in this season was to heal. After a digging deep process, digestive cleansing, and dietary changes over eight years, I started to gain ground. 

I am 52 this year and feel better than I did in my twenties. Lance and I have raised three young men together and I spent 17 years as a homeschool Mom. I have become passionate about helping people discern steps to get unstuck to move toward health. It feels redemptive to use the years of research and experimenting to shorten the road for others looking for a path forward. Enjoy perusing my blog or follow @pegwright | Linktree for a way to connect. I'd love to pull up a chair at our table and share with you the small steps that are opening doors of possibility for life-giving change.  Let's Thrive - together! 

For a full version of my exploration and self-discovery, read my book 'Opening to Grace' found on Amazon or fromWestbow Press.



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