1. Christ is gentle and free of pride. So I make my appeal to you. I, Paul, am the one you call shy when I am face to face with you. But when I am away from you, you call me bold.
2. I beg you that when I come I won't have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people. They think that I live the way the people of this world live.
3. I do live in the world. But I don't fight my battles the way the people of the world do.
4. The weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses. In fact, it is just the opposite. My weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy.
5. I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God. I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ.
6. Until you have obeyed completely, I will be ready to punish you every time you don't obey.
7. You are looking only at what appears on the surface of things. Suppose you are sure you belong to Christ. Then you should consider again that I belong to Christ just as much as you do.
8. Do I brag too much about the authority the Lord gave me? If I do, it's because I want to build you up, not pull you down. And I'm not ashamed of that kind of bragging.
9. Don't think that I'm trying to scare you with my letters.
10. Some say, "His letters sound important. They are powerful. But in person he doesn't seem like much. And what he says doesn't amount to anything."