“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

1 Corinthians 13:1 (NLT)

Great communication starts with love.
Whoever you’re going to have a conversation with—a child, a spouse, a friend, an ex, or a colleague—you must look at that person with eyes of love.

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT).

Words without love are just noise. If you don’t speak in love, it doesn’t matter what the conversation is about or how eloquent you are. You will have wasted your breath.

How do you communicate love in a conversation? For one thing, you communicate love with your eyes, the way you look at somebody. Have you ever looked at somebody and known that person wasn’t loving you at that moment? Or have you ever looked at somebody and, without the other person saying a word, known that person loved you?

Your eyes are powerful tools for showing love. Start your conversations with your eyes. Use your eyes to give people your attention, because attention is love. When you pay attention to people, you’re saying you love them. If you don’t give them your attention, you’ll never have a productive conversation or build stronger relationships.

Jesus modeled this. When a young man came to him one day with a question, here’s how he responded: “Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him” (Mark 10:21 TLB).

Jesus looked, and he loved.

Talk It Over

Besides your attention, what are some other ways you can communicate love in a conversation?
How is a conversation more productive when both people feel loved and understood?
What distractions keep you from giving someone your full attention in a conversation? How can you minimize them?