Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 

Hebrews 13:1

The thirteenth chapter of Hebrews provides a variety of parameters on living a life of purpose beginning with the words above – loving one another as brothers and sisters.

The author begins his list with the idea of hospitality and care for others –

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Hebrews 13:2-3

During our weekend of travel through a couple of airports, we saw a couple of interesting examples of not acting with hospitality, especially when someone is working in the hospitality industry. A couple of people were distracted by their phones or preferred their phones over helping their customers and a couple of others were simply rude to a woman in front of us at the security line.

I don’t know if any of these were believers or not, and everyone has a challenging day, but what if we really do, on occasion encounter “angels without knowing it.” The point is, that as followers of Christ we should always be the people who are friendly and welcoming to those we do not yet know.

Secondly, the writer tells us to remember those in prison. In the first century, Christians were often persecuted and thrown into prison and this continues to this day in some parts of the world. At the very least we can pray for those in need.

The essential key to these first two items is living a life on behalf of others, not a me-first life. Let’s think about how many times we tend to care more for our own needs than the needs of others,