Happy Monday!!! Hope you had a restful, peaceful and enjoyable Father's Day weekend. No doubt it's summer in the South!
Today we'll continue our look into spiritual gifts. I want to post the link once again to one of the best spiritual gifts inventories that I've seen. It's a questionnaire that is completed online and then the results are compiled immediately with commentary. So good! Here you go: http://www.churchgrowth.org/. If you haven't had a chance to find out what your gifts are, take a minute to do so, you'll be glad you did! :)
Ok, so we've covered a number of gifts already -- Administration, Service, Mercy, and Exhortation (encouragement). You can review these by searching the blogs under Spiritual Gifts or Meaningful Mondays.
Today I want to take a look at the gift of Hospitality. Ever meet someone who just had a way of entertaining, making you feel more welcome in their home or business than you feel in your own home, or had what seemed to be a supernatural ability to meet a stranger and make an immediate friend? If so, you may have encountered someone who has been given the gift of Hospitality by the Lord.
The gift of hospitality is such a special gift. If you can imagine the body of Christ as a human body - this person might be the arms of the body -- embracing the stranger, putting their arm around a friend or preparing for a great feast or party where all are welcome. In the church, these folks make great greeters, visitation committee members and truly enjoy decorating, cooking, preparing for a great gathering of God's people. They also love having people into their homes and might host a missionary family, a visiting evangelist, an exchange student or a friend who might be visiting from out of town. Their homes are the places where the kids gather, where the food is plentiful and the fun always makes a great memory. They are fine with surprise visits and while may feign embarrassment about an unkempt home, would much rather visit with people than to maintain a spotless home. There's always something cooking on the stove or fresh cookies coming out of the oven and anything they do for entertaining just seems effortless and doesn't really need a whole lot of praise for doing so - although the praise seems to just flow because their abilities are truly supernatural. There's a seemingly inborn knowledge to have the right amount of food and appropriate decor for the festivities.
The gifted host/hostess is happiest when they are using their hands to serve others and make them feel welcome. But when operating outside the spirit, may become withdrawn, hermit-like, and uninterested in opening their home or being a part of any festivities. They may avoid welcoming a stranger and feel like a stranger at times if operating outside the spirit and will almost always resent any lack of gratitude for works done if in this state of spiritual condition. They also can get so focused on the tasks at hand because of perfectionism or passion that they forget the reason and the One for whom they should be working. A wounded host/hostess will recover quickly if embraced and encouraged to use their gifts according to God's plan for unity and purpose in reaching others.
Like encouragers, those with the gift of hospitality enjoy people more than most anything. They are able to focus on the guest as most important and top priority and they expect nothing in return for doing so. There is also a very deep value for community in the heart of one with Hospitality as their gift. There's no desire for personal promotion when this person entertains, embraces a new friend, or assists in putting together an event. It's an unselfish act that overflows from the heart of one who is passionate for serving Christ in this way.
They are good at working in groups or individually as long as people are at the heart of the reason for working. By profession, someone gifted with hospitality should consider public relations, catering, culinary, floral, event planning, missionary work (of course, must be called to this), host/hostess work, entertaining, food service, hotel/hospitality management or work, and possibly nursing or nutrition counseling - because of the "people orientation".
Poor career choices for someone like this would be any type of work where there is isolation or just mental work. Some hands on activity will keep this person interested and motivated.
In the Bible, Martha (sister to Mary and Lazarus) was gifted with hospitality and Acquilla and Priscilla found ways to minister unto Paul using their hospitality gifts as well. They befriended Paul and assisted him in ministry in both Rome and Corinth. I'm sure there are others who had this blessed gift as well - it would appear that some of the churches that Paul ministered to were much better equipped to meet his needs and make him comfortable in his visits than others were -- it's very likely because those gifted with hospitality were being good stewards of their giftedness and God blessed them and Paul for doing so.
If you are gifted with Hospitality, the more you use this gift the more fulfilled you'll be. The following verse would be a great life verse for you and is one that I have adopted as one of my favorites!
"Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for His Kingdom is a waste of time or effort." 1 Corinthians 15:58.
Here are a few more:
"Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:1-2
"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Rom. 12:13
"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Pet. 4:9-11
I hope you have a great day today - embrace your gifts and use them to God's glory and to bless others in His Name.
See ya tomorrow!!! Amy
Today we'll continue our look into spiritual gifts. I want to post the link once again to one of the best spiritual gifts inventories that I've seen. It's a questionnaire that is completed online and then the results are compiled immediately with commentary. So good! Here you go: http://www.churchgrowth.org/. If you haven't had a chance to find out what your gifts are, take a minute to do so, you'll be glad you did! :)
Ok, so we've covered a number of gifts already -- Administration, Service, Mercy, and Exhortation (encouragement). You can review these by searching the blogs under Spiritual Gifts or Meaningful Mondays.
Today I want to take a look at the gift of Hospitality. Ever meet someone who just had a way of entertaining, making you feel more welcome in their home or business than you feel in your own home, or had what seemed to be a supernatural ability to meet a stranger and make an immediate friend? If so, you may have encountered someone who has been given the gift of Hospitality by the Lord.
The gift of hospitality is such a special gift. If you can imagine the body of Christ as a human body - this person might be the arms of the body -- embracing the stranger, putting their arm around a friend or preparing for a great feast or party where all are welcome. In the church, these folks make great greeters, visitation committee members and truly enjoy decorating, cooking, preparing for a great gathering of God's people. They also love having people into their homes and might host a missionary family, a visiting evangelist, an exchange student or a friend who might be visiting from out of town. Their homes are the places where the kids gather, where the food is plentiful and the fun always makes a great memory. They are fine with surprise visits and while may feign embarrassment about an unkempt home, would much rather visit with people than to maintain a spotless home. There's always something cooking on the stove or fresh cookies coming out of the oven and anything they do for entertaining just seems effortless and doesn't really need a whole lot of praise for doing so - although the praise seems to just flow because their abilities are truly supernatural. There's a seemingly inborn knowledge to have the right amount of food and appropriate decor for the festivities.
The gifted host/hostess is happiest when they are using their hands to serve others and make them feel welcome. But when operating outside the spirit, may become withdrawn, hermit-like, and uninterested in opening their home or being a part of any festivities. They may avoid welcoming a stranger and feel like a stranger at times if operating outside the spirit and will almost always resent any lack of gratitude for works done if in this state of spiritual condition. They also can get so focused on the tasks at hand because of perfectionism or passion that they forget the reason and the One for whom they should be working. A wounded host/hostess will recover quickly if embraced and encouraged to use their gifts according to God's plan for unity and purpose in reaching others.
Like encouragers, those with the gift of hospitality enjoy people more than most anything. They are able to focus on the guest as most important and top priority and they expect nothing in return for doing so. There is also a very deep value for community in the heart of one with Hospitality as their gift. There's no desire for personal promotion when this person entertains, embraces a new friend, or assists in putting together an event. It's an unselfish act that overflows from the heart of one who is passionate for serving Christ in this way.
They are good at working in groups or individually as long as people are at the heart of the reason for working. By profession, someone gifted with hospitality should consider public relations, catering, culinary, floral, event planning, missionary work (of course, must be called to this), host/hostess work, entertaining, food service, hotel/hospitality management or work, and possibly nursing or nutrition counseling - because of the "people orientation".
Poor career choices for someone like this would be any type of work where there is isolation or just mental work. Some hands on activity will keep this person interested and motivated.
In the Bible, Martha (sister to Mary and Lazarus) was gifted with hospitality and Acquilla and Priscilla found ways to minister unto Paul using their hospitality gifts as well. They befriended Paul and assisted him in ministry in both Rome and Corinth. I'm sure there are others who had this blessed gift as well - it would appear that some of the churches that Paul ministered to were much better equipped to meet his needs and make him comfortable in his visits than others were -- it's very likely because those gifted with hospitality were being good stewards of their giftedness and God blessed them and Paul for doing so.
If you are gifted with Hospitality, the more you use this gift the more fulfilled you'll be. The following verse would be a great life verse for you and is one that I have adopted as one of my favorites!
"Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for His Kingdom is a waste of time or effort." 1 Corinthians 15:58.
Here are a few more:
"Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:1-2
"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Rom. 12:13
"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Pet. 4:9-11
I hope you have a great day today - embrace your gifts and use them to God's glory and to bless others in His Name.
See ya tomorrow!!! Amy
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