Read Romans 12:13

13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (NIV)

Just about every Christian reckons family is important. Some even speak of family values, echoing the occasional appeals of politicians to such values. We might reasonably ask just what is meant by ‘family values’. Some families have very doubtful values!

While we may agree that our family relationships are important (the Bible elsewhere urges us to give priority to them), we need to avoid making our families so important that we neglect other relationships as a result. It is possible to exalt our immediate families in such a way as to exclude others. Some families can be so tight-knit that others can’t get a look in. Family becomes a sort of God.

Our text reminds us to practise hospitality, which is not a matter of throwing dinner parties for friends or inviting family to lunch. Hospitality in the Bible is about welcoming strangers. Our family and friendship circles are not to be so tightly drawn as to exclude a welcome to those who do not as yet belong to those circles.

Not much point in boasting about how close your family is if you close the door on others. Your loving and bonded family is meant to be a blessing to those outside the family as well as a blessing to those inside. The best families don’t build walls around themselves to keep others out; they build bridges to invite others in.

Blessings
David Reay

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