How To Treat A Stranger
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” – Hebrews 13:2
The reason God commands His children to love the stranger, welcome the stranger, and to include the stranger because at some point, we will all be a “stranger.” And we would want hospitality shown to us as we are called to show it to others.
Leviticus 19:33-34 says, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.’”
That is a refrain that we see repeated in Leviticus, Exodus, and Numbers: for you yourselves were strangers at one time in the past. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their inhospitality towards those who were different, towards those who were strangers. And the reason it angered God so much is inhospitality was a sign of ingratitude on their part for what the Lord had done for them.
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah knew what it felt like to be a stranger in Egypt. To be inhospitable was to say to God, “forget what you did for me. I got mine, they need to get theirs.”
How many of us have thought this at some point or another? I got mine, they need to get theirs. So often we can have spiritual amnesia and forget what God has done for us. We forget the ways He blessed us and the reason we have what we have. We expect others to “make it for themselves,” when we didn’t make it by ourselves. God made the way.
God wants to use you to bless others, just as He used others to bless you. Do not forget what God has done. Treat others as you yourself would want to be treated and you will ultimately see the positive effects in your life.
The reason God commands His children to love the stranger, welcome the stranger, and to include the stranger because at some point, we will all be a “stranger.” And we would want hospitality shown to us as we are called to show it to others.
Leviticus 19:33-34 says, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.’”
That is a refrain that we see repeated in Leviticus, Exodus, and Numbers: for you yourselves were strangers at one time in the past. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their inhospitality towards those who were different, towards those who were strangers. And the reason it angered God so much is inhospitality was a sign of ingratitude on their part for what the Lord had done for them.
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah knew what it felt like to be a stranger in Egypt. To be inhospitable was to say to God, “forget what you did for me. I got mine, they need to get theirs.”
How many of us have thought this at some point or another? I got mine, they need to get theirs. So often we can have spiritual amnesia and forget what God has done for us. We forget the ways He blessed us and the reason we have what we have. We expect others to “make it for themselves,” when we didn’t make it by ourselves. God made the way.
God wants to use you to bless others, just as He used others to bless you. Do not forget what God has done. Treat others as you yourself would want to be treated and you will ultimately see the positive effects in your life.
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