Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Note to readers: This is an alternate reading from the Three Year Lectionary, and may not match up with the readings your church uses this Sunday.
For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God … For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others … But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2a, 5-6a, 7-13)
I remember several times when young men in our congregation approached my husband and said, “I would like to become a pastor like you. What should I do to take the first step?”
Chau would smile at them and say, “Come with me.” They would follow him, right into the restrooms. There he would hand them a toilet brush and say, “Let’s get you started. You can work alongside me.”
What a shock that was to some of them! They saw only the glory—the man standing in the pulpit on Sundays, the times people greeted him in the street or in a restaurant. They never saw the less glorious bits—the toilet cleaning, the counseling and comforting, the endless paperwork.
But that too is normal for Christian leadership. Because Christ’s servants must behave like Christ.
Paul describes his own attitude: “For we never came with words of flattery [or] greed … But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children … like a father with his children.”
We know how Jesus behaved. He washed His disciples’ feet. He cooked breakfast for them. He thought about their welfare all the time, and taught them to do the same for the people He sent them to. And in the end, He suffered, died, and rose again for the people He loved—so that they could be made new, children of God forever.
Now, Jesus’ Holy Spirit lives in every Christian and makes us like Him, no matter how we serve others. What we do is marked by love—because God loved us and gave us Jesus as our Savior.
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, use me to care for people the way You did. Thank You for loving me! Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions: