Be.Loved. 25 Simple Acts of Love to Change a LifeSample

DAY 4: Invite someone into your home for a meal

“At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.” - Acts 16:33-34

Check many spiritual gifts lists and likely you will find “gift of hospitality” somewhere on it. Perhaps when you think of hospitality, your mind immediately goes to someone—maybe the woman across the street who seems to always be offering rides to people and baking cookies for the kids in the neighborhood. Or it’s the family who fosters children on a regular basis. Or the mom who has “Soup Saturday” for all the families in her apartment complex. 

In the Greek, hospitality is philoxenos—literally, love of strangers. We follow the command of Jesus to love as He has loved when we extend hospitality to those around us. When the woman reached out for His garment in order to be healed, Jesus displayed hospitality. He loved her. 

When the blind man sought healing, Jesus again displayed hospitality. He loved him.

Hospitality, like evangelism, is not a singular gifting reserved for some of us. We can’t claim to not have it. We must love strangers. 

One of the ways we can do this is through inviting them into our homes. When we do this, we send a simple and yet important message: “I think you are important and I want to get to know you.” 

Hospitality does not require us to spend three hours making a meal from scratch and an additional two hours making sure the dust bunnies are gone. All it requires is that we use the space God has given us to show and share His love to those who may not know how much they are loved by Him.

Today, invite someone you know who isn’t a Christian into your home for a meal. 

Reflect on how you felt doing this, how that person responded, and after it has happened, how you can replicate this more frequently in the weeks and months to come.