BLOG

First Thessalonians, part 5, Mother and Father Paul

In 1 Thessalonians 2:7–12 Paul moves from negative defense to positive description. Rather than merely saying what he was NOT, he explains what he WAS. He uses two striking family metaphors: a nursing mother (vv. 7–8), and a father (vv. 11–12). Together they portray the tenderness and firmness required of faithful spiritual leadership.

1 Thessalonians 2:7 begins,

⁷ But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

Instead of asserting apostolic authority (v. 6), Paul chose gentleness. The Greek word ēpioi means gentle, kind, mild, and considerate. He compares himself to a nursing mother. The image emphasizes patience, self-sacrifice, tenderness, and constant care.

A nursing mother expects nothing in return. She gives of herself continually for the life of her child. Paul deliberately chooses one of the strongest images of selfless love found anywhere in human experience.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 continues,

⁸ Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

Paul and his companions did not merely preach the gospel. They shared their own lives. The phrase “our own lives” literally reads, “our own souls” (psychas). Paul invested himself personally in the believers. True ministry always involves more than transferring information. It involves living the gospel and confirming it by a shared life. The message was never separated from the messenger.

This reflects the ministry of Christ Himself. John writes in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God did not merely send information. He came personally. Likewise, though Paul was not perfect, he embodied the gospel he proclaimed.

Paul also claimed to be the New Covenant mother of the Galatians in Galatians 4:19

¹⁹ My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.

By proclaiming the New Covenant to them, he showed that Sarah and Hagar represented two covenants (Galatians 4:22-26). In this case, Paul represented a pregnant Sarah, the New Covenant, in whose belly the church was yet being “formed” as it grew spiritually.

Paul, the Tent-Maker

1 Thessalonians 2:9 says,

⁹ For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

Paul related his manual “labor and hardship” to Genesis 3:16, “in pain (ʿiṣṣāḇôn, from the root word ʿāṣab, “pain or toil”) you will bring forth children.” In the next verse the same word is used, saying, “In toil (ʿiṣṣāḇôn) you will eat of it all the days of your life.” The word has a dual meaning. Though childbirth often involves pain, with some education in natural childbirth, this can often be reduced to simple hard labor. This appears to be how Paul understood it as well by the words “labor and hardship.”

Acts 18:3 tells us that Paul worked as a tentmaker. Although an apostle had the right to receive financial support (1 Cor. 9:6–14), Paul voluntarily surrendered that right in Thessalonica. Paul’s native region of Tarsus was famous for a coarse black goat-hair cloth called cilicium, commonly used in making tents. No doubt this is where he learned the trade and utilized it often during his missionary journeys.

His purpose was “not to be a burden.” The gospel was offered freely. No one could accuse him of preaching for money.

The expression “night and day” does not necessarily imply uninterrupted labor but continual effort. Paul likely worked during the day at his trade while preaching whenever opportunities arose. This required enormous personal sacrifice.

Paul mentioned this again in 2 Thessalonians 3:8, “We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.”

Two Witnesses

1 Thessalonians 2:10 says,

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers.

Paul calls two witnesses: the Thessalonians and God Himself. He describes his conduct with three words: “Devoutly” speaks of his relationship toward God, because his conduct was marked by reverence and holiness; “Uprightly” refers to fairness and justice toward others, showing that Paul treated people honestly in business; and “Blamelessly,” because no legitimate accusation could be sustained against him.

His public conduct matched his message.

Paul as a Father

1 Thessalonians 2:11 says,

¹¹ Just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children.

The imagery shifts here. Paul has moved from the picture of a nursing mother to that of a loving father. Each picture highlights a different aspect of ministry. A mother nourishes. A father prepares children for maturity.

We read a similar claim in 1 Corinthians 4:14, 15, which also helps us understand what Paul meant by fatherhood:

¹⁴ I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

Here Paul distinguishes between guardians/tutors (paidagōgoi), who supervise children, and fathers, who give them life. Paul claims to have become the Corinthians’ father because he first preached the gospel that brought them to faith. He continues in verse 16, “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.” It has long been said, “like father, like son,” and this was also the understanding in the Hebrew language and culture, where a “son” of Abraham was not merely a descendant but one who imitated Abraham—especially by exhibiting faith.

Notice Paul’s threefold pastoral ministry in 1 Thessalonians 2:11. He was “exhorting” believers toward faithful obedience. He was “encouraging” those who became discouraged on account of the opposition. He was “imploring,” literally “bearing witness” or “earnestly urging.” This suggests serious personal instruction.

Paul ministered individually: “each one of you.” The church was not merely a crowd. Every believer mattered. This was, of course, much easier to do in a house church. It is far more difficult, if not impossible, in today’s mega-churches.

The God Who Calls

1 Thessalonians 2:12 gives us the reason Paul endured such labor and hardship:

¹² So that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Here Paul states the purpose of his ministry. His goal was not simply to make conversions, to increase numerically, or for personal admiration. His goal was transformed lives. Throughout Scripture, “walk” refers to one's daily conduct. Faith is demonstrated through one’s manner of life.

To walk “worthy of God” is not about earning salvation. Rather, they are to live consistently with the calling they have already received. Notice the present tense. God continually calls His people into fellowship with Himself.

The kingdom is both present and future. In biblical types and shadows, the Kingdom under the Pentecostal anointing, which began in Acts 2, is the antitype of the reign of Saul’s kingdom. (Saul was crowned on the day of “wheat harvest” [1 Samuel 12:17] which was the feast of Weeks, or Pentecost.) We await the next Kingdom manifestation that is the antitype of David’s kingdom.

Believers already belong to Christ’s Pentecostal kingdom (Colossians 1:13), yet they still await a greater manifestation at Christ’s Tabernacles kingdom upon His second coming. Likewise, God's glory is both experienced now through the Spirit and awaited in its fullness in the age to come (Romans 8:18).