There’s not much aesthetic about my house.
There are usually crumbs…from one end to the other, no matter how often I vacuum and sweep.
When I have people over, I stress over the organization, the clutter, the little “junky” things that are left laying around.
But that doesn’t really matter does it?
I’m not commanded to aesthetics.
I’m commanded to be given to hospitality and to be aware of the needs of others.
“Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” Romans 12:13
My perfectionism doesn’t have a place in that verse. There is no crown in heaven for the cleanest, neatest, most aesthetically pleasing home.
“Given” means, to pursue, to follow after. And the phrase “distributing to the necessity of the saints,” has to do with being a partaker of, to be aware of needs, to know what is needful for another.
There is no space there for perfectionism.
Did you open up your home?
Or were you too busy waiting for the day that you could declutter, so that everyone would be impressed by you when they left?
Did you open your home?
or were you waiting for the perfect timing so that everything could be spotless, and others would wonder how you do it all?
At the end of the day, no one will remember how clean you were able to keep things, some seasons of life aren’t for neat and tidy spaces. They’re for baskets of toys and goldfish crumbs.
No one will remember if you were extremely organized, some seasons of life aren’t that way.
But people will remember if they felt loved in your home. If they found it to be a safe haven when life was beating them up.
They’ll remember if they were able to relax, and be themselves.
Their kids will remember the joy of turning over the baskets of toys to see what treasures awaited them.
They’ll remember if they felt refreshed when they left your home.
They’ll remember that your home was the one everyone always wanted to come too.
That’s what matters.
Maybe hospitality is more about messes than it is about tidying up before someone comes.
Maybe messy hospitality needs to be practiced more.
Clean houses, that feel like home, and make people feel loved. Even if there are a few crumbs on the rug, the books aren’t organized today, and there’s some dishes in the sink.
Hospitality is much more about a refuge from the messes of life, than it is about making sure no one sees your messes.
Your house can be a refuge without being a Pinterest board.
Be given to hospitality, it’s a ministry.
Someone needs you to invite them in🤍
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