Chapter 10

¹I appeal to you personally, by the gentleness and forbearance of Christ—the Paul who is so humble when face to face with you, but so bold in dealing with you when he is far away! ²I 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. ³For though I do live an earthly life, I am not carrying on an earthly war, ⁴for the weapons I use are not earthly ones, but divinely strong for destroying fortresses. ⁵I destroy arguments and every obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, and I take captive every thought and make it obey Christ, ⁶and am prepared to punish any trace of disobedience when you have made your obedience perfectly clear. ⁷You 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. ⁸For suppose I do boast a little too much of my authority—which the Lord gave me to build you up, not to pull you down—I will not have to blush for it. ⁹I do not want to seem to scare you with my letters. ¹⁰For they say, “His letters are impressive and telling, but his personal appearance is insignificant and as a speaker he amounts to nothing.” ¹¹Such 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. ¹²I 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. ¹³But my boasting will not be extravagant, nor exceed the limits God has allowed me, which reach all the way to you. ¹⁴It 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. ¹⁵I 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, ¹⁶and I may preach the gospel in the lands beyond you without having to boast over work already done in another’s field. ¹⁷But let the man who boasts, boast about the Lord. ¹⁸For it is not the man who approves of himself who is really approved; it is the man of whom the Lord approves.