Key Verse: “Contributing
to the needs of God’s people, pursuing [the practice of] hospitality” Romans 12:13 (AMP)
The Bible tells us to
contribute to the needs of God’s people. This is very important in the Body of
Christ. Galatians 6:10 “So then, while we [as individual believers] have the
opportunity, let us do good to all people [not only being helpful, but also
doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being], and especially [be a
blessing] to those of the household of faith (born-again believers).” (AMP).
There are so many people in
the church who are hurting and in need and we have to reach out to them and
help whenever we can. There are some in the Body of Christ who have the gift of
giving as we see in Romans 12:8 which says in part, “If we can give, we should
be generous.” (Contemporary English Version).
When we provide for the
needs of others, we should do so with generosity and with a cheerful heart as the
Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver.” When God has placed in your heart to give to someone, then I
encourage you to do so. If we have the means to help them, then we should do so
even if you have to sacrifice something to do it.
Let me give you an example.
When we were living in Washington in the States, the Lord laid it on my heart to give to a
woman in our church. I spoke to my wife about it and initially she agreed, but
then she thought about it and didn’t want to give up her money later. One
morning, she went to a women’s meeting at the church and in her way home she
stopped at a grocery store. As she was getting ready to check out, an
announcement was made that the next person to come to the register with purple
nail polish would get some free groceries. Guess who had on purple nail polish?
When she went to the
register to show them her nails, the groceries contained everything she went to
shop for and had had cat food (we had a cat at the time). When my wife came
home and told me what happened, I just laughed a little and the next day I had
my wife give the money to the woman. They hugged and wept. It was beautiful.
My point is when God tells
you to give to someone, do so; not so you will get something in return because
that is not why we should do it, we should do so to show the love of God. Then
we are told to be hospitable or to entertain others. The Bible specifically
talks about Bishops, Elders and widows being hospitable (1 Timothy 3:2, 5:10,
Titus 1:8).
Then we are told to be
hospitable and the Bible gives a reason as we see in Hebrews 13:2 “Do not
neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of
believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your
home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels
without knowing it.” (AMP).
This is something that is
important as we are showing the love of God when we do so. Growing up, my
mother would take people into our home when they didn’t have anywhere else to
go. This came from the love of God in her heart. When we are hospitable we
should do so from the heart and not out of compulsion as the Bible tells us in
1 Peter 4:9 “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Another version
of the Bible tells us this “Keep open house for all with a glad heart.” (1 Peter
4:9 Bible in Basic English).
As Christians, we should
always show forth the love of God and we do so when we provide for the needs of
and show hospitality to others.
*** Written by Edwin D.
Kerns | Gospelfeet Ministries ***
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