1Now I, Paul, appeal to you personally, by the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I am humble when I am with you, but bold when I am absent.
2I beg you that when I am present, I won’t have to be as bold as I intend to be toward some who think we live by worldly standards.
3For though we live in the world, we do not fight our battles with worldly weapons.
4The weapons we use to fight are not worldly. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5We tear down arguments and every barrier that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.
6And we are ready to punish every act of disobedience as soon as you are completely obedient.
7Do you only look at the outward appearance of things? If anyone is convinced that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we also belong to Christ.
8Even if I boast a little too much about our authority—which the Lord gave us to build you up, not to tear you down—I will not be ashamed.
9I don't want it to seem as if I am trying to scare you with my letters.
10For people say, "His letters are powerful and strong, but in person he is weak, and his speaking is not impressive."
11Such people should realize that what we say in our letters when we are absent, we will also do when we are present.
12We don't dare to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some people who promote themselves. But when they measure themselves by their own standards and compare themselves to each other, they are not wise.
13But we will not boast beyond our proper limits. Instead, we will boast within the boundaries that God set for us, which reach even to you.
14We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we didn't reach you. For we did come all the way to you with the Good News of Christ.
15We do not boast about the work others have done beyond our assigned limits. Rather, we hope that as your faith grows, our area of influence among you will greatly expand,
16so that we can preach the Good News in the regions beyond you. We do not want to boast about work already done in someone else's territory.
17But, "Whoever boasts, let them boast in the Lord."
18For it is not those who recommend themselves who are approved, but those whom the Lord recommends.