Hospitality – blessing or burden?
In Romans 12:13 the Word tells us to “Practice hospitality.”
I have always been up for a good, wholesome party, so this is not a difficult command for me. My husband Jay and I like to host gatherings in our house – not only do we enjoy it, but we feel like the Lord gave us this particular home for this purpose among others. We live close to church on 2/3 of an acre and our backyard is an awesome place for kids to play, and though not large, our home accommodates a lot of people comfortably because of its floor plan.
One of the reasons we like to share our home is because it was given to us – not that we don’t have a mortgage, but we recognize it as a gift from God.
We were living in tight quarters on a busy street when I began praying for a home that was better than anything we could ever come up with on our own. (Note: I am not a name it and claim it believer, I just felt prompted to pray this.)
Shortly after that, while on vacation, I talked with Jay about moving and he told me the requirements a new house would have to meet for him to want to move. Though these seemed impossible to me, when we got back home, we had a phone call waiting on our voice mail about a house that met all of his requirements perfectly! We moved in three weeks later.
Despite years of happy hospitality, my attitude went sour awhile ago. Soon the Lord pointed out that hospitality had become a burden to me because I had begun looking for what I could get out of it instead of doing it to minister to others. That’s when I stumbled across 1 Peter 4:9 that says, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” God reminded me that we give to others not for what we can get back, but to bless Him by blessing His children.
Recently I was having a group of women over and I got really stressed out about cleaning my house and making my yard look great. I was fighting panic as the hour drew close for everyone to arrive, even though the Lord was consistently whispering in my heart that hospitality has nothing to do with impressing others and everything to do with making them feel welcome and loved. Again, what He intended as a blessing was becoming a burden to me. Once I confessed my own pride and perfectionism, I was able to enjoy fellowship with my guests.
How often we shrink back from the wonderful practice of hospitality because we feel like our house is inadequate – too small, too cluttered, not as nice as so-and-so’s. Or, we allow it to become a burden by working excessively to impress those who are coming over.
When we do this we miss the whole point! The definition of hospitable is “receiving or treating guests or strangers warmly and generously.” It has nothing to do with having a nice enough house or slaving for days to impress your guests. God has commanded us to be hospitable and 1 John 5:4 says that His commands are not burdensome. His desire is for us to have wholesome fellowship that encourages others and ourselves.
I encourage you today to fulfill God’s greatest command – to love Him by loving one another – invite someone over to your home or out for a cup of coffee and welcome them warmly and generously. You will be blessed and so will they.