The Apostle Paul spent just a brief time, perhaps a few months at best, in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey before being forced to leave. The Jews who resisted the message of the gospel made it difficult for him to minister. But many of the Gentiles “received the word of God…not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God” and were saved (I Thessalonians 2:13). Paul later wrote to these believers from Corinth and described his ministry among them. “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us” (I Thessalonians 2:8).
Paul and his co-laborers had a genuine love for the people in Thessalonica. “Affectionately desirous” described their desire for these dear souls even before they received the gospel. This kind of compelling love seems to be greatly missing in modern Christianity. How unlike Jesus Christ are many that profess to be his followers. The Scriptures record of him, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
Being “moved with compassion” is not a phrase we often use to describe people today. We may see someone and pity their condition or circumstance. But compassion actually moves to meet the need. Paul looked at these Thessalonians, saw their need of salvation, and was moved with compassion to give them the gospel. Paul describes the behavior he and his co-laborers showed to these dear people using two examples common to family life.
First, he says “we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children” (I Thessalonians 2:7). The picture is that of a nursing mother holding her infant child to her breast. Few things can conjure something more tender than that in our minds. Second, he testified “we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who called you unto his kingdom and glory” (I Thessalonians 2:11-12). This fatherly message was both authoritative and directional in that it spoke to their needs with an urgent appeal for acceptance.
Paul’s ministry was characterized by gentleness both in speech and conduct, the kind of gentleness we’ve come to associate with a mother for her child. His message was as from a father to his children – characterized by truth, aimed at the will, producing obedience. In short, Paul served the gospel of Jesus Christ on a platter of love!
Christ gave prophetic testimony to his disciples of the character of the end times. He asserted “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). The unrestrained proliferation of wickedness serves to quench the expression of genuine love. When sin reigns in the heart, love grows cold. Who is on the throne of your heart?
From the Chaplain 