1 Thessalonians 2:7-9

New Century Version

⁷ even though as apostles of Christ we could have used our authority over you.

But we were very gentle with you,^[a] like a mother caring for her little children. ⁸ Because we loved you, we were happy to share not only God’s Good News with you, but even our own lives. You had become so dear to us! ⁹ Brothers and sisters, I know you remember our hard work and difficulties. We worked night and day so we would not burden any of you while we preached God’s Good News to you.