11.18-The blessing of hospitality

11.18-

In the shooting and murders at Sutherland Springs there was one of the families that lost some people in four generations of their family. Someone describing them said that you rarely run into families like this. I don’t know about this specific family, but I do know some amazing families.

One of the qualities of families like this is their home is open and warm and friendly and always available. You can drop by any time and visit with them. You don’t need an invitation because they have told you and mean it. “Drop by any time you can." or "any time you are in our area.” They are happy to have you share their next meal with them. It might be fried chicken, okra, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn bread, tomatoes, green beans and pecan pie. It might be scrambled eggs. Either way they can tell you their own stories and hear yours. They can make you feel at home. They can make you feel important.

1 Timothy 3.
3 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. ² Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, 

hospitable,

 able to teach, ³ not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full^[a] respect. ⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. ⁷ He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.