Love for God = Hospitality Toward Others
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13 ESV)
“Hospitality is a practical way to love others. Therefore, a person practicing biblical hospitality would also be a loving person. This element separates biblical hospitality from social entertaining or even distinguishes between the hospitality of a believer and an unbeliever. Believers can uniquely display God’s love as they extend hospitality. Entertaining focuses on having a beautiful table decor or preparing gourmet food. Biblical hospitality is a demonstration of love. Food and other elements are merely tools used to express our love for people. Our motivation for being hospitable women is a response to God’s work in our lives. Hospitality is one way we can tangibly demonstrate our love for God.” Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock
Reader Feedback:
We are all commanded to be hospitable to those around us. How do you practically practice hospitality? Encourage, inspire, and challenge Desiring Virtue’s readers by sharing what hospitality means to you and/or how you specifically like to practice hospitality. Here are a couple examples from Lisa and Pat’s book:
Patti Morse shares, “We are military, so we move often. Within the first two weeks in a new home, I bake a batch of homemade cookies and take a plate of cookies around to all my neighbors. With each plate, I write a note containing our name, phone number, and a Scripture verse. To minister to my husband’s unit, I make every Monday special by sending in a back-to-work treat for them to enjoy with their morning cups of coffee. Each treat is accompanied by a special Scripture and word of appreciation.”
Elizabeth Gilbert reminds us, “Hospitality is the act of sharing one’s substance with kindness, graciousness, generosity, and genuine love (Luke 8:3). Just today in the midst of checking my son’s job of cleaning out the van, a man happened by with a child on his shoulders. He explained he had just run out of gas; his car was parked by the church across the way, and he asked if he could plea borrow some lawn mower gas just to get him to the nearby gas station. I had my eldest son run down to the shed and bring our lawn mower gas can with not much gas in it. We gladly gave the man what we had, and his immediate need was provided for. He brought back the gas can with more gas than it has held originally-a grateful man!”
So, how do you define hospitality? In what ways do you try to be hospitable to those around you? Share your thoughts in the comments and I will choose five of them to share in a post later in the week!
This post is linked up at Time~Warp Wife
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I love having freezer meals on hand for last minute invites over! In fact, we just did this Sunday after church. Chili was a quick and easy meal to whip up right after church and to share with our friends. I freeze full meals often and brown hamburger in and freeze in ziploc baggies which is what made chili such a breeze.
I also try not to leave the house if things aren’t in their places for two reasons: 1. I hate coming home to a messy house that I have to pick up. If I’ve been out running with the kids, the last thing I want to do is come home and pick up! 2. If someone stops by or I run into someone and have them over, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about! The house is mostly ready for company!
One of my goals this year is to be ready for company any time. The two ways above have made that possible
Great tips Heidi! Thanks for sharing! I too love to have meals in the freezer, but haven’t been very good about that recently. Whenever I make a big batch of chili I usually freeze the leftovers and then have that ready for guests. I love just being able to take it out of the freezer, heat it up and serve!
I try to always have some kind of treat on hand so that if people stop in, I can welcome them to stay, or I can have something to send to a home that might need remembering. And I also try to keep ingredients on hand for at least 1 quick dish I can bring to a potluck.
Great ideas Amy, thanks for sharing!
I agree that hospitality is, in the most basic form, just being prepared for visitors/taking people in. It’s seeing your home as God’s and being open to minister to and meet the needs of whomever He brings into your home. I also think another part of hospitality is taking the initiative to bring people to your home and host them. One of the goals my husband and I set for ourselves this year is to have at least one guest over each month to enable us to practice hospitality more often.
Yes Hollie. It is very easy for me to wait for people to come to me for hospitality. Usually if I am going to be hospitable, I have to go and seek out hospitality. I think this is also a part of our culture today as we don’t want to “bother” people, when really our fellowship is vital to the peace and joy of our brothers and sisters in Christ!
WOW! This is one of my favorite topics!
We love to have people over very often, and most of the times, it is big groups of people
We just love having our Family Table full. We also have had the opportunity, because we live in Mexico, to have many families visit us and stay with us for several days; so yes, hospitality is an important part of our family.
One of the most important things I have learned about being hospitable is that Peter’s words are vital if we want to serve God when we open our home to others.
“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and ydominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:9- 11
We may have all the food ready, the house clean, and the table beautifully set with a vase of fresh flowers, but if we grumble (even in our hearts), it won’t be a pleasant service to God.
What happens when the guests leave your home? Do you grumble with your kids and husband about how tired you are. Do you talk about little Jimmy who just left and you just can’t figure out why he behaves in such a way. Do you grumble on how Mrs. So-an-So did not help you clean the table?
As in all the things we do, let’s us see that we keep a heart that pleases God.
I would love to recommend you a great book on the subject (the best I have read), it is called A Meal with Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community and Mission Around the Table by Tim Chester
http://www.monergismbooks.com/A-Meal-with-Jesus-Discovering-Grace-Community-and-Mission-around-the-Table-eBook-p-20164.html
Grace upon Grace,
Becky
Oh, I am very much looking forward to reading that book. I bought it for Julie a while ago for her birthday, but secretly wish I had kept it for myself
I am definitely going to get it soon. Thank you for sharing your heart for hospitality with us Becky!
I loved reading A Meal With Jesus! It really challenged me to think about hospitality differently than I had before. One thought being that hospitality should also extend outside of our homes.
A practical way I do this from time to time is bringing my girlfriends a homemade treat-muffins, cookies or coffee cake- to enjoy when we meet at Starbucks for coffee. Its like a “taste” of home even when we aren’t gathering there.
And Jessalyn, I would love to swap A Meal With Jesus for Practical Hospitality with you sometime
sounds like a deal Julie.
Becky,
I love what you said about where our hearts our in regards to caring for others! The verse from Peter is so true and something to strive to remember as we care for our own families!
There are so many aspects to hospitality and I happen to just read and article entitled “Hospitality Begins at Home” in Credenda Agenda Magazine on this topic that was so helpful and from a little different angle. Here are a few highlights:
Hospitality is a means of loving others by supplying their needs from what we have. Hospitality doesn’t keep score. It is a testing point of how we are doing with all our stuff. Do we share? Do we give our stuff ( money, time, food) away freely?
At its most basic level, hospitality is simply feeding people. God enables us to turn a sack of flour into cookies and cinnamon rolls; this is a profound mystery! God is blessing us with food. He gives it to us freely, and we should be grateful to turn and give it freely to our own children in imitation of Him. This is a profound ministry that God has given wives and mothers. Feed people! Feed your people! This is the essence of hospitality…
When company comes we give them our attention and use our best manners. We say, ” Make yourself at home.” Consider then our own families. Are the children also free to “make themselves at home”? Are we hospitable to our own people? …Children know if they are welcome or unwelcome guests. They know if Mom is stingy with the food or not…Home should be the measuring stick of what beautiful, glorious, God-ordained hospitality looks like. If it isn’t, then how will we understand what it means to be given to hospitality?…. In feeding all these people, we are feeding Jesus. “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me”
What wonderful thought and encouragement Wendy! Thank you for sharing!
Wendy, thanks for your input my friend, great stuff to consider. I love this article from Credenda, and the thing that I like the most (and I am sure you do too) is that the community in Moscow (Christ Church, Trinity Church and NSA) is just wonderful. They have taught me a lot about hospitality every time we have visited with them. They are an example on how to live giving and sharing a good meal and great company.
We actually adopted, from a beautiful family there, the idea of having a different family from our Church every Sunday for breakfast before going to Church. It is a beautiful tradition that we are just starting in our home.
One of my goals this year too is to be more hospitable. Inviting and having couples for dinner and ladies for coffee. This was a great and encouraging post for me.
Thanks for sharing it.
I linked to Titus Tuesday also. Come by and see me. I enjoyed my visit with you.
Sherry
One of my goals this year too is to share God’s love this way by inviting couples for dinner or dessert. And ladies over for coffee. Or a Dr. Pepper in my case. LOL. This was a great post it was very encouraging for me. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed my visit. Please come by and see me I linked to Titus Tuesday today too.
Have a great week,
Sherry