HOSPITALITY
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:8-10 (NASB)
In this passage, Peter continues to encourage his people to fervently love one another, practice hospitality, and serve one another according to how God has gifted each. Peter was wise and knew first-hand the power behind these practices, both for building the faith of believers and standing as a testimony to the real power and presence of the risen Savior.
Christian author and speaker Rosaria Butterfield describes hospitality as the ground zero of the Christian faith. Rosaria came to Christ through the hospitality of a pastor and his wife, Ken and Floy Smith, who invited her into their home when she was a tenured professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse University. She was a self-proclaimed lesbian living with a same-sex partner and was in the process of writing a book on the Christian right and why they were opposed to people like her.
Throughout numerous meals at the Smith’s home, Rosaria recalls, Ken and Floy didn’t share the gospel with me, and they didn’t invite me to church, and this was wonderful because it showed me that they didn’t see me as a project, but as their neighbor. How Ken and Floy practiced hospitality became a living and breathing example of the theology they taught. Rosaria says she did not set foot in a church for another two years, but was in Ken and Floy’s home every week. Through this process of table-fellowship and seeing the gospel lived out through Ken and Floy’s life, Rosaria testified that she came to faith in Christ because she was convinced that Jesus is who He says He is.
APPLICATION: Think of people in your sphere of influence—neighborhood, workplace, church, etc. How may the Holy Spirit be leading you to communicate the truth and grace of the gospel through simple acts of hospitality?
PRAYER: God, thank You that Your love, expressed through the life, death and resurrection of Your Son, is so powerful that it transforms a human soul from death into life. Help me see the opportunities You provide to serve others and show hospitality that points people to Christ. Amen.
“… Our Father in heaven…” Matthew 6:9b (NLT)
- What do You want to say to me today as my Father?
“… may Your name be kept holy.” Matthew 6:9c (NLT)
- What do You want to reveal to me about Your power today?
“May Your Kingdom come soon.” Matthew 6:10a (NLT)
- Help me make Your priorities my priorities today.
“Give us today the food we need,” Matthew 6:11 (NLT)
- Is there anything specific You want me to do with my time or the people I’m around today?
“and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
- Reveal to me anyone I need to forgive or ask for forgiveness.
“And don’t let us yield to temptation…” Matthew 6:13a (NLT)
- Is there anywhere I’m vulnerable to temptation?