While talking with friends recently, we discussed the gift of hospitality and exercising the gift for love of others. One part is the motivation we get when we realize that hospitality is part of what makes a house a home.

When you were a kid, you may have made a hideout. Blankets all over the dining room. Flashlight and snacks. But what made it more fun after it was built and furnished? Sharing it! You chose your special person and invited them in. The grand tour was a joy. The company made it cozy.

When you see a gorgeous sunset or a breath-taking ocean shore or a majestic mountain range, what is your second response (after you stand in awe)? You have to share it with somebody, anybody. It’s better together!

We are created for community.

A house that is only a place to hide, to retreat from the world and never share it, is a colder place. Opening up our hearts leads to opening up our homes. Sharing our home is part of sharing ourselves, which is part of loving others.

When we open up our house and share hospitality, home becomes a warm haven of rest and rejoicing, celebration and shared struggles. Memories are made and shared. Traditions are sometimes even created, giving us joys past, present and future. The home is a richer place for all who live in it and  visit it. We enjoy it more because we have included others.

If we have been blessed with a home, it is an opportunity — and a heart-warming joy — to bless others with the same.