What is the context?
After rejecting greed and the search for praise, Paul describes tender care like a nursing mother’s and personal encouragement like a father’s. The images explain how the missionaries shared their lives as well as their message.
Their labor kept them from becoming a financial burden during this visit. Their goal was the believers’ growth into lives worthy of God’s call to His kingdom and glory. Paul presents what they did in Thessalonica; this paragraph does not provide a complete rule about supporting every minister.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley emphasizes affection, willingness to give oneself, and encouragement that moves people toward faithful action. The USCCB note on verse 7 records a manuscript difference between being gentle and being like infants. The BSB follows the gentle reading, which fits the nursing-mother image; the difference should not be used to erase the paragraph’s unmistakable concern for care.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.