We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
But our lives as well. What does this mean?
I think sometimes it's easier to share the gospel and simply tell someone that God loves them than it is to share the messiness of our lives with them. I think that what Paul is getting at here is that it takes love to let someone into our lives enough to actually see gospel grace being played out in every day life. To love at all is to be vulnerable as C.S. Lewis said, and what could be more vulnerable that sharing our lives as well with the people we share the gospel with. And Paul does this with delight. He's humble. He's not looking for glory and acknowledgement, he's just trying to love these people like Jesus does.
But our lives as well. How do we do this?
Maybe we need to meet up for coffee with that person in the back row at church. Maybe we need to say hello to the person sitting on a bench on the street day after day. Maybe we need to buy a kid some ice cream when they ask for a pack of smokes. Maybe we need to cry with our best friends. Maybe we need to laugh with a stranger.
We need to give up our lives for these people. We need to give up everything for these people who have heard "Jesus loves you" from the mouths of dozens but have never really felt that love in action. We need to let our hearts break. We need to recognize our brokenness and then we need to love with our lives. And we can't do this unless God's in this.
Not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
Because we loved you so much.
