As I think about the practice of hospitality, I see it as being one of the greatest tools that God can use in our personal sanctification. I’ve also seen how it can be an incredible tool God uses in the lives of our children and their walks with Christ. There are four areas that I’d like to focus on.

When is the last time you had someone over to your home?

So many Christians rarely, if ever, have people in their homes. If they do, it is just family or a few select friends. Some people don’t even know their neighbor’s name, let alone have them over for a meal.

Perhaps you never thought about it, but hospitality is the key to so many areas of the Christian life. I have found that people who practice hospitality are usually the most joyful Christians. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and many people can be joyful without practicing hospitality, but for the most part, joy in the Christian life and hospitality go hand in hand.

As I think about the practice of hospitality, I see it as being one of the greatest tools that God can use in our personal sanctification. I’ve also seen how it can be an incredible tool God uses in the lives of our children and their walks with Christ. There are four areas that I’d like to focus on.

Hospitality Helps with Integrity

Of course, hospitality doesn’t guarantee integrity, but it sure helps. Having people in your home is a way of declaring “I’m an open book.”  It’s a declaration that “I’m the same person at my home that I am in the hallways of my church building.”  This is why hospitality is a qualification for eldership (Titus 1:8). It goes hand in hand with other qualification because for example, it is hard to be above reproach without hospitable at the same time. A church would want to appoint elders who are eager to have people over. Partly because, as a church member, you want to learn how to establish a healthy home.

So many young people–especially those who didn’t grow up in Christian households–are hungry to learn what a healthy home looks like, what a godly marriage looks like, or even what godly parenting is all about. They can see glimpses of it at church, but they can study it in depth inside your home. Starting a practice of establishing an open home is one way God can cause you to grow in being the same person at home that you are at church.

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