A mother who is faithful to being what a mother ought to be, she sets aside her life for the life

of her beloved baby.

She is sacrificial.

She is generous.

That life dominates her life.

And so Paul says, like a mother, we were so well pleased to give you not only the truth we gave you,

but to give you our lives.

Thank you. to give you not only the truth we gave you, but to give you our lives. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It doesn't have to be

Mother's Day to appreciate the unique role that moms play in the lives of their little ones.

In fact, with just a few days until Father's Day in the United States, Canada, and the UK,

John MacArthur is going to help you see how even men play a motherly role in the home, in the church, even in the workplace. John is continuing a

message he began yesterday called Parental Pictures of Spiritual Leadership, and it's part of his

current study titled Leading the Charge. So now take your Bible, if you're able, and turn to

First Thessalonians Chapter 2 as John begins today's lesson.

First Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 7 through 12. We've entitled this section,

parental pictures of a spiritual leader. It is essential to the well-being of children that there be a mother. It is also

God's perfect plan and design that there be a father. And there isn't that the perfect balance

of gentle, nurturing care, and loving example and authority.

Mothering and fathering is God's design for the raising of children.

And I believe when God created the church, he created the church very much like a family.

And the church is not to be taken care of by surrogate mothers and fathers.

Those in spiritual leadership are not to view the church with the indifference and with the

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