1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
It is curious why Peter links offering hospitality with grumbling in this verse. This is related to giving with conditions and expectations of something back. Both of these are the opposite of showing love, from verse 8. Offering aid to someone without expecting anything back is related to love. God’s type of love gives without expecting anything in return. Giving is at the heart of hospitality. If we do not have a giving heart, it is difficult to show hospitality to others. There are many ways to show hospitality, depending on one’s culture and situation. I remember as a youth, my church emphasized inviting people over for lunch after Sunday worship. We also had regular “afterglows” after Sunday evening church. It seemed that people were always showing hospitality. My parents often had people over for meals. If there were special guests at the church, such missionaries or singing groups, we often had them over for the night. My mother was a simple person when it came to hospitality, just simple meals, nothing fancy about the dishes or table setting, but she showed hospitality with a sincere heart. She enjoyed having friends and family over, and even new people. These memories help me in my own efforts to show hospitality. I have to wonderful, however, if my hospitality is conditional or if I grumble within my soul about having to inconvenience myself. Do we make hospitality too complex so that it becomes a burden to bear rather a joy to share? Are we willing to go out of our way to help those in need, even if we do not know them? In a day full of mistrust, can we still be a friend to the friendless?
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