LIKE A MOTHER
Jenna Worsham
Today’s Scripture: “But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.” 1 Thessalonians 2:7, ESV
Theme: Godly parents care well for vulnerable or powerless children and treat them gently, just as good leaders do for the vulnerable ones in their care.
VULNERABLE AND POWERLESS
After each of our three children were born, I had a special manicure consisting of short, smooth nails. Newborn humans are among the most helpless in the animal kingdom. Their paper-thin skin can snag on anything. I even went so far as to remove my wedding ring and any other jewelry with sharp or diamond edges.
Robust calves and fawns walk on wobbly legs independently just hours after birth. Yet human babies must be treated gently. We wash our hands before handling them. We often ask people to sit or use a certain technique when holding them. Their neck muscles are not strong. Their arms and legs do not yet bear their weight. Good parents and caregivers know how to treat vulnerable, powerless babies who can’t ever articulate their own needs.
While the vulnerabilities change, children continue to need gentle treatment throughout development. In fact, we are all powerless or vulnerable sometimes – we need gentle treatment too! That’s one reason Paul (in Thessalonians) compares his leadership of the church in Thessalonica to a “a nursing mother” caring for her children.
LEAD LIKE A NURSING MOTHER
This description doesn’t have a strong, attractive ring to it. Who wants to do that? After nursing three children, I can confidently say what that challenging season does NOT feel like is leadership. Honestly, the word that most describes the postpartum period is vulnerable. It's the reason our own mothers often come to care for us after we give birth. It is why our friends bring meals to relieve our regular cooking duties. Even our secular day jobs recognize our physical limitations and provide some paid leave. A nursing mother is gentle by necessity – because of her vulnerability. A nursing mother is gentle because of her compassion both for the tiny new addition with physically demanding needs and also her compassion for slightly older siblings, newly thrust into an emotionally taxing role as older brother or sister.
TRANSITIONS ARE TOUGH
It’s easy to see why “gentle” is important for newborns, older siblings, and nursing mothers. Those transitions are universally acknowledged. What about the 11-year-old entering middle school? Surly and sometimes unkempt, these child/teenager hybrids feel they no longer fit anywhere. Maybe they are pushing boundaries when they seem to know everything? Yet they need tenderness, gentleness, and the Fruit of the Spirit, too. All of us, in times of uncertainty or transition, want to be led gently. Maybe others in our care need similar care and compassion? We never know what struggles or tragedies others are facing. Like a nursing mother, Jesus does not cast us aside or tell us to bear up when we are weak.
GENTLE JESUS
Instead, Jesus was both willing and generous in His gentle leadership. While our children may look strong and capable at various stages of growth, they may yet crave our gentleness. Jesus does not withhold it, and neither should we: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV). Jesus reminds us that He is committed to the vulnerable, and He will provide for us in our own weakness and powerlessness, also.
Make It Personal: How does this Scripture affect you? In what area can you apply the idea of being gentle “like a nursing mother?” It doesn’t matter if you are neither a mother nor nursing! This applies to all of us: Jesus, me, and you.
Pray: Lord thank You for being gentle with me. I can see the many ways You have cared for me as tenderly as a mother. I’m so thankful that You do not shy away from roles like mothering (typically assigned to women) but allow us to see the way in which a leader and a Savior can also be gentle. Help me to offer that same gentleness to those around me – my own children, others’ children, older teenagers, peers, and even those older than myself. Thank You for teaching us about love through our close relationships. Help us not to stop with our blood relatives but to extend Your love to anyone in need. I trust You to provide the strength. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:6-9; Philippians 4:5, 8-9
Weekly Memory Verse: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4, ESV