“But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: 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.”
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 KJV
Paul tells the Thessalonian church that he and his team were “fostering you with the tender care of a mother nursing her children. It is with the same motherly affection that we yearn for tou and were delighted to present you God’s Gospel gift wrapped in us, since you are very dear to us! This giving of the gift is the kind of giving where the giver is not distanced from the gift but wrapped up in it! The apostles, prophets, preachers, pastors and teachers are gifts to each church to establish them in their faith and to present everyone in the full and mature stature of Christ. There is a vast difference between a gift and a reward! We are God’s gift to one another which God has gift-wrapped us to the world. What we are in our individual expression is a gift, and not a reward for personal diligence or achievement. These gifts were never meant to establish one above the other or become mere formal titles, but rather to identify specific and dynamic functions with one defined purpose - to bring everyone into the realisation of the fullness of the measure of Christ in them. Hallelujah!
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