Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:13
Generosity is a readiness to give more than is necessary or expected. Jesus is calling us to be generous especially in relation to our homes, our time, and our possessions.
The word translated hospitality literally means “loving strangers.” The same word is used in Hebrews: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (13:2). Look out for people who are on their own. Be especially generous to brothers and sisters in Christ (saints) who don’t already have a wide circle of connections.
Paul was writing on the eve of a great persecution that came on the Christian church. Believers who were persecuted in one town would flee to the next (Mat. 10:23), and when they arrived they would be dependent on the kindness of Christians opening their homes to brothers and sisters they may never have met before. Nobody else would do this for Christians, so Paul says, “Make sure you have an especially generous heart towards the needs of the saints.”
The language here is not the language of exclusivity, but of priority. The needs of the saints are to be our first concern. You find the same thing in Galatians: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (6:10).
“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). The implicit temptation is to regard what God has given as our own and keep it for ourselves.
Are the needs of the saints your first concern? How can you better support them?
