King James Bible
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"
Paul addresses the Galatian believers with tender, parental affection, emphasizing his spiritual authority and deep emotional investment in their faith. This intimate term reveals his pastoral heart and mirrors the parent-child relationship common in ancient discipleship. Paul compares his spiritual anguish to a mother's labor pains, suggesting the Galatians have regressed in their faith and require spiritual rebirth. The imagery emphasizes the intense suffering and effort required to restore them from their drift toward legalism. The goal is not mere behavioral correction but the complete transformation of believers into Christ's likeness from within. This metaphor of spiritual gestation indicates a process of growth where Christ's character and life become fully developed in the believer.