The Heart of a DisciplemakerSample

Day 3: A Motherly Heart

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:7 (ESV), “We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.” Spiritual babies, like other newborns, need gentleness. What does this motherly heart look like in a discipler?

It was time for my regular meeting with Adam, an eager new follower of Christ. I’d observed he had developed some pretty devastating patterns of communication with his wife. Boy, did I have a stiff spiritual pep talk ready for him! But as soon as we greeted each other, I knew something was wrong. So I spent the noon hour listening to him describe his hostile mother-in-law, who had said to his new stepchildren, “You don’t have to obey Adam; he’s not your real father.”

Adam was crushed. This was not the day for a pep talk. This was a day to be gentle. So I listened. I empathized. Part of the time we just sat silently. Then it was time to go. As he opened his car door outside Taco John’s, he paused, hugged me, and told me he loved me.

Gentleness means listening rather than fixing, keeping silent rather than speaking, putting an arm on the shoulder rather than exhorting. Paul knew when to be gentle like a mother. Such is the heart of a discipler.