But that’s not the only image of love. In verse 11 Paul changes from the image of a mother to that of a Father. And I think that it’s a true generalization that the greater strength of a mother is to understand the needs of her children and to care and provide for those needs. There’s no doubt that’s true for my wife. She’s better at understanding and caring for our children’s needs But probably the greater strength of a father is to push the children out of the nest and in a loving way to encourage them to grow up and become strong and mature themselves And so that’s probably the image Paul has in mind in verse 11. you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own “For children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom…” Its another beautiful picture of the ministry. Just like a father loves his children and wants to push them to be the best they can be. In the same way we should be urging our people to live lives worthy of God. And so these are the marks of a successful ministry. Our visit to you was not a failure Paul says: For we preached in spite of persecution. We preached with pure motives. We preached with genuine love. This is a genuine gospel ministry. And it’s a great example for us to follow as we seek to share the gospel. And its been a special challenge for me as a pastor. Many of my failures have been exposed by verses. And I plead for your prayers that I might be more faithful. I so value those of you who do pray for me.
But that’s not the only image of love. In verse 11 Paul changes from the image of a mother to that of a Father. And I think that it’s a true generalization that the greater strength of a mother is to understand the needs of her children and to care and provide for those needs. There’s no doubt that’s true for my wife. She’s better at understanding and caring for our children’s needs But probably the greater strength of a father is to push the children out of the nest and in a loving way to encourage them to grow up and become strong and mature themselves And so that’s probably the image Paul has in mind in verse 11. “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom…” Its another beautiful picture of the ministry. Just like a father loves his children and wants to push them to be the best they can be. In the same way we should be urging our people to live lives worthy of God. And so these are the marks of a successful ministry. Our visit to you was not a failure Paul says: For we preached in spite of persecution. We preached with pure motives. We preached with genuine love. This is a genuine gospel ministry. And it’s a great example for us to follow as we seek to share the gospel. And its been a special challenge for me as a pastor. Many of my failures have been exposed by verses. And I plead for your prayers that I might be more faithful. I so value those of you who do pray for me.
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