While looking up verses for this month’s installment, I was surprised at how many there were! Makes you figure, if it is mentioned so many times all throughout the Bible, it must be something important that we should be focusing on! To open our home to guests and strangers -all with the same manner – open, gracious, friendly. By sharing what we have – which is all a blessing from God – we please Him and bless others!
It is so very easy to let the daily things of life get in the way of sharing our home, sharing our Lord with others but I really want to focus on it more now that we have a home just made for entertaining in! Yes, we did it in our last home but being as small (and lacking a dining table!) as it was, it was a bit tight! We have already had more guests here in the last 5 months than I would have thought and I love it!
Before my OH and I even got married, we discussed how we wanted to have a welcoming home. One where people felt comfortable coming to for fun, or as a place to escape the trials of life for a while. I feel like we are off to a good start on this.
If you would like, feel free to check out the other studies – Virtue , Hope and faithfulness. There is no specific order for this study! A few ‘boring’ things before we get started – I will get all my meanings from dictionary.reference.com unless otherwise stated. For my verses, I will be using my Complete Jewish Bible, unless otherwise stated.
Hospitality –
- The friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers
- The quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, gracious way
synonyms – warmth, cordiality, geniality, friendliness
Prov 31: 20 “She reaches out to embrace the poor and opens her arms to the needy”
I always picture a loving, smiling woman stretching out her arms, and embracing the hurting one with tenderness and strength.
Rom. 12:13 “Share what you have with God’s people, and practice hospitality.”
1 Pet. 4:9-11 ” Welcome one another into your homes without grumbling. As each one has received some spiritual gift, he should use it to serve others, like good managers of God’s many-sided grace – . . . if someone serves, let him do so out of strength that God supplies; so that in everything God may be glorified through Yeshua the Messiah – to Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.”
the words that stand out to me are ‘ without grumbling’. ‘out of strength’ and ‘God may be glorified’. I tend to forget that welcoming people in to my home to rest, eat and talk with , is a unique way to glorify God! It is a way to show His unending, unconditional love for all of us.
Lev. 19:34 ” Rather, treat the foreigner staying with you like the native-born among you – you are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.”
Matt. 25:40 ” The King will say to them, “Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!”
Col. 3:23-24 “Whatever work you do, put yourself into it, as those who are serving not merely other people, but the Lord. Remember that as your reward, you will receive the inheritance from the Lord. You are slaving for the Lord, for the Messiah.”
Heb. 13:2 ” but don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels.”
A few examples of hospitality:
Gen 24:31 “Come on in!’ he said’ you whom Adonai has blessed! Why are you standing outside when I have made room in the house and prepared a place for the camels?”
I just love that not only did Lavan make room for Abraham’s servant, he made sure that his camels would be taken care of as well.
Acts 16:34 ” After that, he brought them up to his house and set food in front of them; and he and his entire household celebrated their having come to trust in God”
Job 31:32 ” No stranger had to sleep in the street; I kept my house open to the traveler.”
and here are a few more if you’d like to look them up!!
1 Tim.5:10
Titus 1:8
3 John 1: 5-8
I am reading the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery right now and how they term it is ‘having your latch-key out’ for so and so. Honestly, doing a google search doesn’t really help explain exactly what a latch key is, but i take it to mean that, for that person, the door to your home is never locked. If only we could have that philosophy these days, within reason of course, we are also to be smart in who we allow into our homes and lives.
And, as always, here are a few printables for you to put up about your house! (one for fancy printers, one for basic – like ours! )
What are ways that you show hospitality? Is it something you feel is a strength in your own life?
~Laura
the start of a good life 
Very nice piece on hospitality, Laura. Good reminders that we don’t do it just for our own enjoyment, although we certainly do derive that. I have always enjoyed having friends in for a meal. Living in a 5th wheel, however, is not very conducive, but I am learning that I can take a pot of food to a friend’s home and have fellowship that way.
I am reminded of a verse that tells us that we should not always invite those who can return the favor, but also those who cannot. (Sorry I can’t find it right now!)
Keep up the good posts!
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yes, sometimes it is not about actually having them over but finding a way to still bless them in the same manner! I know that when people bring food over to share with me, I fell blessed.
yes! there’s that saying that goes along the lines of ‘no one does anything for nothing’… you know the one i mean? but, i’d like to think, that once in a while, we do actually do something just to be a blessing- without expecting anything in return =)
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Lovely! You have a very welcoming spirit and we loved benefiting from that a few weeks ago! It’s always been something that is important in our lives and home as well.
I’ve found that there’s also times when we can’t or shouldn’t be inviting others and we’ve had to figure out when those times are. If we aren’t getting proper rest and time away from others we can’t really be a blessing to others. Balance is key. 🙂
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thank you Genvieve! and i agree completely, you have to be smart about hospitality. thank you for the reminder on that – we really can’t be a blessing if we are dead on our feet!
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Hospitality is such a big need, and a huge area for ministry. I remember back when we first got married, and had a very, very empty house, we had two big opportunities to be hospitable within that first month–hosting my extended family’s Christmas dinner at the last minute because my aunt was too sick to host (we had to ask people to bring their own folding chairs and tables or we would have all be eating on the floor, but we had a grand time!) and inviting a friend of a friend who was traveling through town, and had her accommodations fall through at the last minute, to sleep over at our place (we had neither an extra bed nor extra sheets, so she slept on the couch in a sleeping bag)–so many people have been extra-ordinarily hospitable to me in my life, I hope that I can be hospitable to others whenever the opportunity arises.
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our first house was soooo small that we are excited to have an extra room for a guest room (as well as my hubby’s office), and my parents were awesome enough give/lend us an extra bed and frame! it has been nice to have that option for visiting friends and family! Really, what is more important than fine furniture, is the open heartedness of the hosts! =)
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I love having people over! My mom was a good example of hospitality growing up and I hope that I can follow her example and keep my home open for people.
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