Dear Church Family, 

This past week I have had the joy of hosting some of my family from California.  Due to the restrictions of the pandemic we had not hosted company from out of state for a long, long time.  As we prepared for the visit, I became aware of several projects that we had started on around the house that were in need of completion. The excitement of hosting brought new inspiration to finish these undertakings. The areas needing fresh paint finally received their renewed coatings and the cracked switch plates were finally replaced.  

My list got shorter and shorter… and my trips to the home improvement store became more and more frequent. 

As I considered my motivation, a sense of conviction came over me. Why didn’t I value those around me every day enough to put forth the effort long ago? Understandably, there is only so much that can be accomplished in any specific period of time, and special events give us the opportunity to deal with those things that we put on the back burner. The point I want to make is simply this: there are times in life we become familiar with those closest to us and stop putting forth effort that conveys our value and appreciation. This is true in our relationships, our work, and our walk with Christ. 

The spirit of familiarity becomes the spirit of compromise (not the good kind). It causes us to become complacent in the proper level of investment in our relationships. We become lazy in our relational stewardship. We should never have our feet hit the ground in the morning with the attitude of giving less than our best to those who are around us every day. 

Paul encourages the church in Philippians 2:4 to not look to our own interests but also to the interests of others, adopting the mind of Christ. 

It’s a wonderful thing to do our best in hospitality and go the extra mile for those individuals whom we value. It’s also important to guard against taking those around us for granted. Let's remember to reflect the grace and love of Christ to those closest to us, as well as those whom we are first encountering.

Loving you all,
Michael