1 I appeal to you personally, by the gentleness and forbearance of Christ??he Paul who is so humble when face to face with you, but so bold in dealing with you when he is far away!
2 I beg you not to make me take as bold an attitude when I come, as I count on taking toward some people who suspect me of acting from worldly motives.
3 For though I do live an earthly life, I am not carrying on an earthly war,
4 for the weapons I use are not earthly ones, but divinely strong for destroying fortresses.
5 I destroy arguments and every obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, and I take captive every thought and make it obey Christ,
6 and am prepared to punish any trace of disobedience when you have made your obedience perfectly clear.
7 You look at things externally. If anyone is sure he belongs to Christ, let him think again and understand that I belong to Christ just as much as he.
8 For suppose I do boast a little too much of my authority??hich the Lord gave me to build you up, not to pull you down?? will not have to blush for it.
9 I do not want to seem to scare you with my letters.
10 For they say, "His letters are impressive and telling, but his personal appearance is insignificant and as a speaker he amounts to nothing."
11 Such people had better understand that when I arrive and take action I will do just as I say I will in my letters when I am far away.
12 I do not indeed venture to class or compare myself with certain individuals who approve of themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.
13 But my boasting will not be extravagant, nor exceed the limits God has allowed me, which reach all the way to you.
14 It is no strain for me to do this, as it might be for people who had never got so far, for I was the first to come all the way to you with the good news of the Christ.
15 I do not indulge in extravagant boasts over work done by others, but I do hope that as your faith increases, my influence may be immensely enlarged through you,
16 and I may preach the gospel in the lands beyond you without having to boast over work already done in another's field.
17 But let the man who boasts, boast about the Lord.
18 For it is not the man who approves of himself who is really approved; it is the man of whom the Lord approves.