being a mother and a father

1 Thessalonians 2:7b-12

Paul is obviously very concerned about an attack on his character that is happening by someone in Thessalonica. He continues to defend his actions and motives in these two paragraphs, just as he did in the previous. He uses two word pictures: that of a mother nursing her children to remind the church of the nurturing care that he gave to them and that of a father dealing with his own children to remind the church of the encouragement, comfort and exhortation that he gave them. He also uses other family language, referring to the believers as "brothers and sisters."
Paul's main point is that they were not a burden to the church but worked hard, giving of their very lives to not cause the church any hardship and to benefit the believers spiritually. The two phrases that stick out to me are:
1) we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. I wonder how often the gospel message gets in people's way because I am willing to share the gospel but not my life. This reminds me, again, that the method of presenting the gospel is as important as the words I use and that it is not enough for me to just share the message of Christ - I must be investing my life into people, allowing them to see my heart, my struggles, my joys, my sorrows. Because I am afraid people won't like what they see if they get too close (and, therefore, reject me), I have a hard time being vulnerable. It is almost getting to the point where I am believing my own press.
2) "Live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." This is a high imperative! I love the lofty and inspiring language - God calls me into his kingdom and his glory! Anything less is settling. Lord, let me not settle for anything less than your kingdom and your glory. Let me live a life worthy of you. Only through your strength and Spirit can this be accomplished. Change me so my desires are purely for your glory. Transform me and renew me.

worthy of the gospel of Christ

Philippians 1:27-30

The key words in this passage are: gospel, suffer, one. Paul is connecting back to his previous statement about how he rejoices because the gospel is preached and now he is encouraging the Philippians to live in such a way that their lives (not just their words) reflect the gospel of Christ. They are to live this way inspite of the persecution they face because it will show their persecutors that they are confident about the end of the struggle (the persecutors will "lose") and because suffering for Christ is a privilege that is granted to only a few.
There are two phrases that jump out at me:
1) Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven, live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. No matter what opportunities come my way or opposition is raised up against I must evaluate my life with in the framework of the good news message of Jesus. This means that I must strive for holiness, justice, grace, mercy, compassion and righteousness and not allow myself to make excuses for when I miss that mark.
2) It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ...to suffer for him. In NA Christianity (and I think it is spreading to other parts of the world) we see suffering as a mark of spiritual faultiness. If someone suffers, they must be sinning somehow or have a lack of faith. According to Paul, suffering for the sake of Christ is a privilege that is granted by God on behalf of Jesus. Am I worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ? Based on the fact that I am not suffering, the answer must be "no". I know that I should desire to be worthy and I should pray that God would prepare me to be given the privilege of suffering for Christ but the truth is that I like to be comfortable and safe and I'm afraid of pain.