Just as a Nursing Mother

I think that it is fitting on this Mother's Day, in our Afternoon Worship, that we would take a look at the subject of Paul's acting as a mother to these young believers in Thessalonica. Although it is always right to recognize and maintain the different and respective roles and responsibilities of mothers and fathers; Paul is telling us here that there were certain qualities of a mother which he adopted in his ministry to the young believers at Thessalonica. He is saying that there are certain qualities of mothers which spiritual fathers and indeed all believers need to learn themselves, so that Christ will be better demonstrated in their lives. So this afternoon we want to ask the question, "What are these desirable qualities which nursing mothers can teach all Christians in their attempts to teach and help each other to better demonstrate Christ?" As we look carefully at the text we can see that there are three qualities of the nursing mother which we can all learn from which will help us to better demonstrate Christ. They are - first - Gentleness; second -Cherishing; and third - The desire to impart life- giving and life sustaining truths. Let's think about these things together.