Romans 12:13: Given to (or pursue) hospitality.
Love’s care is exhibited when we “Practice hospitality.” Here we must note something both beautiful and convicting: “practice” means “pursuing” or “chasing.” The word sometimes even denotes strenuous pursuit. The idea is that the loving believer does not wait for the stranger to show up on the doorstep, but goes out and gets him. Of this, Origen wrote:
How finely does he [Paul] sum up the generosity of the man who pursues hospitality in one word! For by saying that hospitality is to be pursued, he shows that we are not just to receive the stranger when he comes to us, but actually to inquire after, and look carefully for strangers, to pursue them and search them out everywhere. 1
Application
- Have you ever considered providing lunch one Sunday a month for someone who has just recently been attending your church?
- To practice hospitality is to intentionally pursue another in order to share the love of Jesus in practical ways.
Prayer
Lord, just as You pursued me with loving-kindness, help me to do the same towards others.
1. Hughes, R. K. (1991). Romans: righteousness from heaven. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
