Spiritual Gifts: Hospitality

The spiritual gift of hospitality can often be taken advantage of by those who just seek to hurt the person. It can be easy to feel so comfortable that we forget to be grateful or we ignore the kindness inherent in this gift. Yet the most amazing part of this gift is that it is offered without any need for reciprocity. A person with this gift loves to share his or her home or space without any need for you to do the same.

Is the Gift of Hospitality My Spiritual Gift?

Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer "yes" to many of them, then you may have the spiritual gift of hospitality:

• Do people just love to hang out at your house?
• Is having people over something you love to do?
• Are you one of the first people to greet the new people at youth group or services?
• Do people feel comfortable stopping by your house out of the blue (and do you enjoy it)?
• Is your home a place of ministry?
• Do you enjoy planning parties and events?

Spiritual Gift of Hospitality in Scripture:

Romans 12:9-13 - "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality." NLT

1 Timothy 5:8- "But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers." NLT

Proverbs 27:10 - "Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you - better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away." NIV

Galatians 6:10- "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." NIV

2 John 1:10-11- "If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work." NIV

Matthew 11:19- "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." NIV

John 14:2- "There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?" NLT

1 Peter 4:9-10- "Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another." NLT

Acts 16:14-15- "One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She was baptized along with other members of her household, and she asked us to be her guests. If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,' she said, 'come and stay at my home.' And she urged us until we agreed." NLT

Luke 10:38- "As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home." NLT

Hebrews 13:1-2- "Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." NIV

1 Timothy 3:2- "Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach," NIV

Titus 1:8- "Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined." NIV