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Striving for a Virtuous Life

With this series coming to a close this month, it’s made me look back on all the topics we’ve covered and contemplate how I have grown in each of them. I have not done near as well as I had intended but any growth is GOOD forward movement that I will be proud of. Here is a quick run-down of how I feel I did on each one of them:

strivingforavirtuouslife

(if you want to read the original posts, each title links up to them!)

Authenticity – to a degree, I have tried to be more ME. To not pull up the mask to hide the pain – physical or emotional. This might seem silly, but even going somewhere/letting others come over without me having makeup on (or even attempting something other than re-ponytailing (is that a word?) my crazy hair is a part of being ME more.

Hospitality – I love it when people come over. but i will admit to getting super nervous when it comes to the actual hosting duties. My OH enjoys hosting so I let him take over typically. But i’ve been trying to get over the jitters!

Hope – not so well –I have been very up and down this year. My down times have gone hand in hand with the severity of my physical pain. This year plus has been the most difficult in the way of emotions out of the past decade of chronic pain.

Faithfulness– Uhhhmm, I suppose the answer is the same as above.The bedrock of my faith is still strong and secure, but there have been more moments of questioning details of faith as I’m slowly transitioning to the Messianic Jewish life.

Wholesome Speech – I feel like I’ve grown in this when speaking to others, but have for sure gone backwards when talking to myself.

Listening– Yes and no….. I am trying to listen more to what isn’t said sometimes than I used to. As well as asking more questions to find out where people really are.

Expectations – sitting here thinking about it, I suppose my struggles in hope and faithfulness spread a bit to here as well. My longing to be healed by now has periodically made it difficult to see the blessings He has given to me.

Protection – I needed this reminder this morning! He is my Protector!

Modesty – this has been something I haven’t struggled with too much in years. the struggle tends to be more of ‘this dress/top is so cute but i’m tired of having to layer everything in my closet!’ than anything else.

Thank you for coming along with me on this series, I hope that you have learned and grown from it. I know that I want to do another series next year but I don’t have any idea what it will cover yet! Or even whether it’ll be faith-based. If you have any ideas, do share!

Blessings,

Laura

Tags: expectations, faithfulness, godly virtues, hope, modesty, striving for a virtuous life, verses on godly virtues, verses on hospitality, verses on protection, virtue, virtues

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Striving for a Virtuous Life – Hospitality

6 Apr

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! )