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How to Develop the Heart of Hospitality

If you are like me, there are just some things you have to cultivate. For you, it might be hospitality, for me it is mercy.  When I take a spiritual gifts test, mercy doesn’t even register.  Seriously, my kids can tell you I have to really work hard at showing mercy when they screw up. I have to intentionally work at showing mercy to others.  I think many times Hospitality is a lot like Mercy. It is something that many of us have to work at to learn How to Develop the Heart of Hospitality.

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about what it means to have the heart of hospitality.  Hospitality is not Entertaining  I encourage you to read that post as well if you have not yet.  That is where we define the heart of hospitality.

Today let’s talk about…

Developing the Heart of Hospitality

Make it a Habit

For some people, their gift mix does not have hospitality in the top 3.  That is ok.  We are all made differently.  Don’t feel like there is just something wrong with you.  For you, you might struggle with hospitality, for me, I struggle with giving a person grace when they did something crazy and it backfired.  We all have to work on it.   Many sources say that it takes 21 days to form a habit.   So for the next month, make a list of people and see how many of them you can impact by just making a call, inviting them to coffee or tea, sending a card, taking a meal, having them over for dessert, or visiting them at work for a quick break.   Remember, hospitality is not a big production.

Motivation gets you going, Habit gets you there.
– Zig Ziglar

Find where you are comfortable

We all have our comfort zones.  My husband is an amazing speaker and teacher.  He has the gift to be in front of a crowd and be able to relay the message to the audience successfully.  He is my favorite.   I am totally not comfortable in front of a crowd.  Occasionally, I will do it, but my comfort is with a small group or a very small group, like 1.

I love being the background kind of gal.  The one that loves the ones that don’t seem to get enough attention. The one that makes sure a birthday doesn’t go unnoticed, the one that sees a young mom who needs a night out and will keep their children.  That is me.

Find your place of comfort.  It might be hosting a large group at your home and making each one feel amazing when they walk into your home.  Maybe it empowering others to be intentional in their relationships with others. Maybe you are one that loves to visit the hospitals and rest homes.  We all have the command from scriptures to be hospitable, it is just a matter of where we can use your gifts to make that happen.

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay
1 Peter 4:9

Read & Talk about it

Keep fresh ideas flowing.  Hospitality is one of my passions. I love talking about it, sharing it, doing it and promoting it.  But I too am reading constantly about it.  I love hearing from others and finding out what works for them and how they are doing.

We all need to expand our reach.  We all need to be learners.  I have just finished a great book that gave me inspiration and some ideas.  Plus it is a beautiful book to have on your coffee table.  It is called The Turquoise Table.    It has been a great book to just enjoy reading.  It tells the story of how she put a turquoise table in her front yard and how it brought her community together.  Great recipes and ideas in this book.

Find a friend or two and talk about ways you can do hospitality in your homes or community.  I have done short bible studies with friends on the topic, talked about ideas with friends and then put those ideas into action and reported back to friends.  [clickToTweet tweet=”It’s not failure when you seek encouragement & ideas from others when doing acts of Hospitality” quote=”It’s not failure when you seek encouragement & ideas from others when doing acts of Hospitality.  “]

Developing the heart of Hospitality is something that we all can do.  It will be one of the most fulfilling things you do.

Challenge

Spend the next 30 days focused on developing the heart of hospitality and putting it into actions.  Come back and comment on how you are doing.  I can’t wait to hear.