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I, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away. 2 I beg you that when I am present I may not need to be bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we are living according to the flesh. 3 For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the ways of the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but on the contrary, they are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every proud obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
7 You are only viewing things superficially. If anyone is confident that a belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does. 8 For even if I boast somewhat freely about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, “ His letters are weighty and forceful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his public speaking is deplorable.” 11 Such people should understand that what we say in our letters when absent, we also do in our actions when we are present.
12 For we dare not classify or compare ourselves with those people who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond the proper limits, but we will keep within the limits of the field that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you. 14 For we are not over-extending ourselves in our boasting, as would be the case if had not come to you and reached you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond our limits by boasting about the labours of others. But our hope is that, as your faith increases, our area of ministry among you shall be greatly enlarged, 16 so we may also preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work that has already been done in someone else’s area of outreach. 17 But, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord”. 18 For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.