Welcome to my new summer series, Faith in the Everyday! I hope to publish a post weekly for the summer of 2026 in order to share various ways that we can live our faith in the small every day moments.
I’ve always understood hospitality as inviting people into your home and making them feel welcome. I want my guests to leave my home feeling relaxed and with a memory of an enjoyable gathering. But I know that hosting can be stressful and difficult to some, and I wonder if it is because hospitality has become interchangeable with entertaining. If we think of hosting more as entertaining, it might be why being the host sometimes begins to feel a burden to some people.
Hospitality should be done in the spirit of generosity. 1 Peter 4:9 advises showing hospitality without grumbling. Hospitality begins before the guests arrive in your heart and mindset. Your heart should be open to being generous and welcoming.
Entertaining is Not Hospitality
I think it’s important to note that entertaining is not hospitality. Entertaining usually focuses on making an event an experience from the food to the decor and even with activities. While this is great for parties where there are many people, providing games and music and dancing isn’t being hospitable. Being hospitable is making sure that your guests feel welcome, valued and to be yourself, inviting.
Entertaining is making sure your guests have a good time. An experience. Which turns the host into an entertainer, and your guests into the audience. The focus shifts from guests being welcomed to being impressed.
Hospitality Is About the Guest
Hospitality is more about the guest being welcomed, blessed by the company and shared food and drink, and the guests’ needs are more of a focus.
Since hospitality is not about you, the host, then your mindset needs to shift to the guest. What does a guest need? A stranger in your home needs to be made to feel welcome. How do you do that?
Suggested for You: Creating a Welcoming and Inviting Home
I think it’s quite simple, and that we have forgotten how easy it is: Welcome your guests with a smile and an open heart. Gather them in an area where they can sit and relax, either around a table or in a cozy seating area. Provide them with food and drink. Be prepared to give them the best of what you have.
It’s not about having a selection of drinks in fancy cups, but rather that you invite them to have a refreshment or snack or even a meal. It can be as simple as crackers and cheese or can be a three course meal. Hospitality happens when you invite people over for dinner and have time to prepare, and it happens out of the blue when a friend texts and drops in half an hour later.
Hospitality Begins Before the Guests Arrive
Whether expected or not, opening your home and being welcoming is something you have to be prepared to do as the host. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have that selection of drinks, or if there are toys strewn about. It’s the mindset and heart position you bring to the guests that matters.
One thing I always am is generous with strangers in my home. I see the bounty in my pantry as belonging to whoever is in my home–whether they are there for a few hours or whether they are the family who lives in the home with me. If you are prepared to be generous, you are making the guest feel apart of your home and welcome and far more at their ease. This makes their time in your home one that is comfortable and enjoyable. This to me is far more important than providing my guests with an experience or sense of my own importance.
When we had unexpected guests when I was child, my mother would make coffee and offer some fruit and baked goods. If it was closer to lunch time, she would offer a sandwich or burger and something stronger to drink. She was prepared to share what she had, be generous and no one ever left hungry or ill at ease.
Therefore, hospitality isn’t about the food or decor or about being prepared to receive guests. There is no real formula to making your guests feel welcome, no list of do’s and don’t’s and things to prepare or have on hand. It’s all about your heart posture and willingness to love others. It’s about opening your home to your guests and attending to their needs. It can be simple or elaborate but shifting your heart and mindset is what makes you hospitable, not providing a perfectly clean home or games and elaborately laid out charcuterie boards. It’s not the aesthetic look or how much money you spend, it’s about being willing to simply share what you have and make others feel like they are apart of your family, safe and valued.
What are ways you make your guests feel welcome? Share in the comments below!