As If It Were You

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if you were suffering with them.
— Hebrews 13:2-3


These verses call us to a radical form of empathy—hospitality and remembrance that move beyond kindness into true identification. We are not simply asked to help strangers, prisoners, and the mistreated; we are invited to imagine ourselves in their place. To love as if the chains were binding our own wrists. To pray as if the wounds were on our own backs. To remember not from a distance, but from a place of shared heartache.

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,” the writer urges. Strangers may not fit easily into our comfort zones—they may look, sound, or live differently—but every stranger carries the potential to reveal God’s grace to us. Hospitality is not merely politeness; it is holy. It opens our lives and hearts to God’s hidden presence.

The call deepens: “Remember those in prison… as if you were bound with them.” This is not about fleeting sympathy; it is about solidarity. When we hear of the imprisoned, the mistreated, the marginalized, what is our first response? Is it dismissal, distance—or is it remembrance shaped by Christlike compassion? How might God be inviting you to respond differently—to pray, to write, to advocate, to stand near?

This passage mirrors the very life of Jesus—God with us, entering into our frailty, our captivity, our pain. When we live with this kind of love for others, we step into His way of being present in the world. Who in your life today might be considered a stranger or outsider? What would it mean to love them “as if it were you”? How would that change the way you move through your relationships, your prayers, your service?

This week, take one step closer—open your door, open your hands, open your heart. In welcoming the stranger, remembering the prisoner, and loving the mistreated, you may find that Christ Himself meets you there.


God of Compassion,

You drew near to me in my need and never turned away. Teach me to do the same for others. Help me to welcome the stranger with joy, to remember the prisoner with compassion, and to stand with the mistreated in love. Give me a heart that feels what others feel, and hands ready to serve. Let my life reflect Your nearness to those the world often forgets.

I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.


-

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