This post is part of my ongoing series on hospitality.

I’m glad you all are excited about this series on hospitality!  Today I’d like to share what hospitality really means.  I think we can have this picture in our mind that hospitality means hosting an elaborate dinner party around a perfectly set table in a spotless home, serving a gourmet meal, and sending everyone home with boxes of homemade truffles.

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True hospitality is really different from that picture we paint (and, let’s be honest, if that were the definition, few of us would practice hospitality on a regular basis!).

Hospitality IS NOT:

• entertaining
• pretending to be something you are not
• chanelling Martha Stewart 
• putting on airs or showing off
• something you can only do when your house is ready to be shot for a magazine
• a chance to try out every idea you have ever pinned on Pinterest
• expecting perfection
• something that has to be stressful
• limited to just having people over for dinner
• just for those who have the “gift” of hospitality

Hospitality is a practical way to love others.

 What are some ways you can practically show love to others this week?

Do you ever have things that God is teaching you that just seem to come at you from every angle until you start to apply what He wants you to learn?  Lately I feel like I’ve been bombarded with a fresh awareness of showing biblical hospitality.  From our ladies’ Bible study in 1 Peter, to the books I’ve been reading, to the books Tad has been reading, God is showing me that hospitality isn’t something optional; it’s a Scriptural command!

1 Peter 4:9 says, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Romans 12:13 commands, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Hebrews 13:2 states, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8 both list “hospitable” as a qualification for an elder (pastor), and 1 Timothy 5:10 lists hospitality as a characteristic of a godly widow.

I know it’s been easy for me to “brush off” this command to show hospitality with a million different excuses: my kids are little, our finances are tight, my house isn’t clean enough, our schedule is too busy, etc.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing a bunch of posts about hospitality.

Topics I hope to include:

• Hospitality: What it is and isn’t
• Combating the excuses
• Why comparison robs us of the joy of hospitality
• Outside the box: Unconventional ways of showing hospitality
• Showing hospitality in a small home
• Showing hospitality with young children
• Showing hospitality when money is tight
• Showing hospitality when you hate to cook
• Simple menu ideas to make hospitality very do-able for you! (Check out my Pinterest board for ideas!)
• Resources for learning more about hospitality (aka books I love!)
• Interviews with godly older women who routinely practice hospitality – here and here
• And maybe more! 🙂 – view all the posts here