Love is the key to hospitality

“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord … Practice hospitality.”

— Romans 12: 11.13 (NIV)

As the holidays close in on us, it’s time to brush up on our skills to be hospitable hosts.

With all the excitement about mealtime menus and decking the halls, we often get so tangled up in the time-consuming preparations of the holidays that we forget the heart of the matter, which is love, thankfulness and hospitality.

I know from experience that when we are planning and preparing meals, our focus can get caught up in presenting the perfect turkey and mouthwatering sides. Sometimes we can forget about the heart focus that surrounds serving the meal. To have one without the other destroys the purpose of the holiday gathering.

We look at things of God as spiritual, but much of the spiritual side of life is to put into practice God’s practical commands. The ability to be hospitable is born inside each believer, and God commands that we put our gifts into practice. Some may have more of a knack for it than others, but we can always learn to become hospitable.

Hospitality is being able to invite others into our lives with the heart attitude to serve them as guests, and to make them feel comfortable and cared for. It’s displaying a welcoming spirit, not one that whines and seeks self-approving accolades about the fact that we have to do all the work.

This holiday season, let’s ask God to help us minister kindness and friendship at our meals. Let’s make our guests feel as welcome as possible. At the end of the day, we’ll have experienced a joyful heart of hospitality.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author of the book “Letters To A Friend,” speaker, life and writing coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com.