FRIENDSHIP.Sample

Opening your life for friendship

We know God because he is a God who speaks. We are created in his image and one of the main ways we know each other is through conversation—through self-revelation. Friendship grows when we open up our lives to other people. This passage highlights the importance of hospitality in opening our lives to friendship and loving as friends ought. 

Throughout the Bible, meals play an important role in the lives of God’s people. There are meals for celebrations and remembrance (Exod 24:11; Deut 12:7; John 2:1-11; Luke 22:15-16). Jonathan and David shared many meals together as they lived and served in the palace. And heaven is described as one big banquet with people from all nations (Isa 25:6; Rev 19:7-9). Opening your home can be scary but it doesn’t need to be Martha Stewart-calibre hospitality. Some of my fondest memories of times with friends have been around a takeaway pizza, surrounded by piles of clothes still to be folded. 

Maybe as you leave church on a Sunday you could invite someone for lunch. Ask them what they found encouraging about the sermon or church generally. Or maybe you could intentionally keep one evening a week free to have someone over for dinner. Another idea is to have dinner as a regular part of your Bible study group. Please don’t hear me saying that you can only do hospitality in your home. For some of us there are good reasons for not doing this. Going out for dinner is good too. The point is that friends eat together. 

Question So how do you open your home to share meals with others? How can you open up your life to make time for hospitality and friendship? 

Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, please help us to be people who offer hospitality to others without grumbling. Please help to find spaces in our lives where we can show love to others and show them the love that you have shown us. Amen.