Written by Cecília Santana, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Salvador, Brazil
Throughout my Christian walk, I’ve understood that obeying God comes down to relationships. I can already hear you saying, “How so?” Hold on, I’ll explain! In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says to love first the Lord God with everything we have and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In practice, these two commandments mean that we need to be in relationship with God first (praying and meditating on the Bible) and this relationship will influence all of our other relationships.
We can only love who we know, and to know, we must spend time together. In Acts 2:44-46 we see that the first Christians regularly did things together. Sometimes in the current digital age, virtual friends get more attention than real friends. As Christians, we must be mindful to not neglect time with each other, especially post-pandemic where even church services became virtual, and the practice of hospitality is running the risk of being forgotten.
The Bible talks a lot about the importance of hospitality and today I want to cite two reasons to exercise this gift:
1 - God gave the first example for us to follow.
God wanted to be in relationship with us so He created a “perfect home.” The Garden of Eden had everything we needed and, most importantly, God walked with us there (Gen. 2:15-25). However, we know that this relationship was broken by the sin of Adam and Eve and they were forced to “leave home” as a result (Gen. 3:23,24). Soon after, God as a Loving Father brought about the renewing of His relationship with mankind through Noah when He told him to build a “safe house” free from evil, better known as Noah’s Ark (Gen. 6-9).
But again, disobedience distanced us until God once again restored our relationship, this time through Abraham, and the first step was to “leave home” (Gen. 12:1-3). This relationship was so deep that we see God revealing his plans for Abraham’s descendants. They would be guests in another country for a while (Gen. 15:13), but then they would have their own home; a land flowing with milk and honey (Gen. 15:18-19 and Deut. 6:3). Abraham was an exemplary host when he received the angels (Gen. 18:1-8), as was his nephew, Lot (Gen. 19:1-3). In both cases, these visits proved to be huge unexpected blessings!
The promise made to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) has reached all the way to us as daughters, by faith through our relationship with Christ who came down from Heaven to live on earth with us for 33 years (John 3:16) and continues to live in us through the Holy Spirit. The most beautiful part of this relationship is that Christ prepared our eternal dwelling (John 14:2-4), so we know that we are foreigners in this passing world and we cannot become attached to anything here. Everything is borrowed from God and should be used to bring others to Christ.
2 - Hospitality is an opportunity to exercise practical love.
Through our earthly home entrusted to us by Christ, some of us have the opportunity to show His love to the residents (parents, kids, spouse) who need a welcoming place, a “little piece of Heaven” in this dark world, where they can renew their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength. Whether we share our home with others or live alone, this love should extend to neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and even to strangers! (Rom. 12:13; Gal. 6:10)
As wise women, we have the responsibility to maintain our homes (Prov. 14:1), be good managers and attentive to how everything is going like the “exemplary woman” of Proverbs 31. Our doors need to be open to teaching the Word as Lydia did (Acts 16:14,15, 40) so that Jesus can enter and transform lives as He did with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).
I am grateful to the woman who opened her home through which my husband and I came to Jesus and were converted more than 20 years ago. Therefore, my advice to those who think their homes are too small or too ugly is to let go of this idea because all guests need is for us to show them God’s love.
To conclude, I want to share three practical tips from the scriptures and my personal experience:
- Don’t complain! 1 Peter 4:9-11 tells us that we should practice hospitality without grumbling. I have had the opportunity to serve by helping with domestic tasks in homes where, even with problems, my merciful hosts were hospitable. I have also received guests who were challenging, and I learned to be more meek, patient, and self-controlled.
- Never expect anything in return! Everything we do is to glorify and honor God (1 Cor. 10:31). Our reward is eternal (Matt. 10:42). It is much better when the initiative to reciprocate is free and spontaneous, as it was with Elijah in 2 Kings 4:8-32. Be like the Shunammite woman— do your best and God will bless you— and if you are the guest, be a nice surprise!
- Finally: Rejoice, be generous and grateful for the opportunity to serve! Hospitality continues to be God’s powerful means of deepening relationships and changing lives!