When you hear the word hospitality, what comes to mind?
Perhaps you picture a beautifully decorated dining room, a home-cooked meal, and someone who effortlessly welcomes guests into a spotless house. Maybe you think of fresh flowers on the table, homemade desserts, and women who genuinely enjoy hosting large gatherings.
If that’s your picture of hospitality, you’re not alone.
It’s also one reason many Christians quietly conclude that hospitality simply isn’t their gift.
“I don’t cook.”
“My house is too small.”
“I’m an introvert.”
“This season of life is too busy.”
“I’ve never been good at entertaining.”
While those concerns are understandable, they reveal something important. Many of us have confused entertaining with biblical hospitality.
The two are not the same.
Biblical Hospitality Begins with the Heart
The New Testament word often translated hospitality is the Greek word philoxenia, which literally means “love of the stranger.”
That definition immediately shifts the conversation.
Biblical hospitality is not primarily about decorating, cooking, or hosting memorable events. Those things may certainly become expressions of hospitality, but they are not its foundation.
Hospitality begins with a heart that notices people.
It chooses to make room for someone else when it would be easier to remain comfortable. Sometimes that happens around a dinner table. Other times it looks like lingering after church to welcome someone standing alone, inviting a neighbor for coffee, opening your schedule for an unexpected conversation, or simply paying attention to the person everyone else seems to overlook.
In other words, hospitality is less about impressing people and more about loving them well.
Making Room Because Christ Made Room for Us
One of the reasons hospitality occupies such an important place in Scripture is because it reflects the very heart of the gospel.
Long before we welcomed Christ, He welcomed us.
Paul writes,
“Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.” (Romans 15:7)
That single verse reshapes our motivation.
We don’t pursue hospitality to earn God’s approval or because we enjoy entertaining more than everyone else.
We make room for others because Christ first made room for us.
Every invitation extended, every conversation slowed down, every lonely person noticed, and every meal shared becomes an opportunity to reflect something of the welcome we ourselves have received.
Why Biblical Hospitality Matters More Than Ever
Loneliness has quietly become one of the defining struggles of our generation.
Although we are more digitally connected than ever before, many people still long to be genuinely known. We exchange messages throughout the day yet rarely linger long enough to move beyond surface-level conversations.
Hospitality offers a different way.
It reminds us to look up from our schedules, notice the people God has placed around us, and create space for meaningful relationships to grow.
That doesn’t require a larger home, a bigger budget, or exceptional cooking skills.
It requires a willingness to see people the way Jesus did.
Perhaps that’s why Scripture repeatedly encourages believers to practice hospitality. It isn’t simply another item on our Christian to-do list. It is one of the practical ways the gospel becomes visible in everyday life.
Let’s Learn Together
Over the past several months, I’ve spent a great deal of time studying what Scripture teaches about hospitality, and the result is a new seven-day YouVersion Bible reading plan called Making Room: A Biblical Approach to Hospitality.
Beginning Monday, July 13, I’ll be reading through the plan with women from around the world, and I’d love for you to join us.
Throughout the week we’ll discover that biblical hospitality is far more than opening our homes. Together we’ll explore what it means to make room in our schedules, our conversations, our priorities, and ultimately our hearts.
Whether you love hosting guests or have never invited anyone into your home, my prayer is that this study will help you see hospitality through fresh biblical eyes and encourage you to take one simple step toward loving others well.
If you’d like to read along with me, you can join the plan using the QR Code below.
I can’t wait to learn alongside you.
For His glory,
Cheri
