When my children were little the idea of inviting extra people into the house always felt a little overwhelming. I set myself an expectation that the bathroom should always be sparkling for visitors, surfaces clear, everything tidy and in its place.
I still like clean, tidy, spaces but the reality is that life isn't so clean and tidy.
Maybe it's because my kids are that much bigger and independent or maybe it's because I've been choosing to practise hospitality over the last few years a little bit more, but I've found myself caring a little bit less about the state of my house and a little bit more about the state of my heart.
When I invite people into my way-less-than-perfect home I hope I'm saying, 'This is a home where you can be real. This is a home where there are as many tears as there is laughter, where there is struggle as well as victory but where all our hope is found in the solid rock that is Jesus.'
My heart longs that people might see the beauty of Jesus through the way we as a family choose to live our lives. But if we don't let people in, if we keep our front doors firmly shut, then how will people see how what is taught on a Sunday morning impacts Tuesday tea times and Saturday afternoons?
I've been reading a brilliant book by Rosaria Butterfield called The Gospel Comes with a House Key. Rosaria shares how it was the consistent, genuine love of a Christian family who invited her into her home which helped her see that following Jesus is the real deal.
I want to show people that Jesus is the real deal.
Jesus doesn't care about sparkling bathrooms, whether you feed people with soup or a three-course meal. Jesus says love people. Show them me. Show them my kind of love. The kind of love that is so real that it lays down its life so that others can have life.
'Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practise hospitality' (Romans 12:9-13).
There is no doubt I need to keep practising hospitality. Loving people is a way of life that I need to choose daily. Rosaria Butterfield says that in order to love in this way we need to be people who are rooted deeply in the Word which sustains and speaks truth into our hearts.
We need Jesus to love like Jesus.
Lizzie Bassford is a wife, mum and missionary living in inner-city Manchester. Follow her on Twitter @captivated01.
