What sort of things come to mind when you hear the word hospitality? Do you imagine a beautifully set table, cocktails, fancy dresses, and perfectly put together trays of hors d’oeuvres? Hospitality can indeed include all of these things, but it doesn’t have to. Most of the time we associate hospitality with the idea of entertaining when, in reality, they actually have two separate meanings. We were called to hospitality, not to entertainment.
Entertaining focuses on impressing others, hospitality focuses on being a blessing to others.
There is nothing wrong with anything I’ve described above, however we need to keep in mind that true hospitality happens when your guests leave your home feeling better about themselves, not better about you. If we only seek to impress those around us with the things we’ve acquired, we’ll never be effective in loving them or being a blessing to those that we bring into our home. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set a pretty table or use your good china so everyone gets to feel fancy; this is only a caution to help us get into the correct mindset and prepare our hearts to love those whom God loves.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing different tips and tricks to help us through the holiday season of parties, dinners, and overnight guests so that we feel prepared and confident. Please comment below with your thoughts and a topic that you feel would be helpful this season.
Paige
reclaiminghergrace.com 