Paul Defends His Ministry
1 I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you—I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ 2 I beg you not to force me to be harsh when I come; for I am sure I can deal harshly with those who say that we act from worldly motives. 3 It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. 4 The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; 5 we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ. 6 And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.
7 You are looking at the outward appearance of things. Are there some there who reckon themselves to belong to Christ? Well, let them think again about themselves, because we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8 For I am not ashamed, even if I have boasted somewhat too much about the authority that the Lord has given us—authority to build you up, not to tear you down. 9 I do not want it to appear that I am trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 Someone will say, “Paul's letters are severe and strong, but when he is with us in person, he is weak, and his words are nothing!” 11 Such a person must understand that there is no difference between what we write in our letters when we are away and what we will do when we are there with you.
12 Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards! 13 As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you. 14 And since you are within those limits, we were not going beyond them when we came to you, bringing the Good News about Christ. 15 So we do not boast about the work that others have done beyond the limits God set for us. Instead, we hope that your faith may grow and that we may be able to do a much greater work among you, always within the limits that God has set. 16 Then we can preach the Good News in other countries beyond you and shall not have to boast about work already done in someone else's field.
17 But as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast about what the Lord has done.” 18 For it is when the Lord thinks well of us that we are really approved, and not when we think well of ourselves.
Pāvila kalpošanas pilnvaras
1 Es, Pāvils, jūs mudinu Kristus lēnprātībā un maigumā, es, kas esmu pazemīgs, kad esmu pie jums klāt, bet bargs prombūtnē, 2 es lūdzu, lai man, esot pie jums, patiesi nebūtu jābūt bargam, vēršoties pret tiem, kuri domā, ka mēs dzīvojam pēc miesas prasībām. 3 Mēs dzīvojam miesā, bet mēs necīnāmies ar miesas līdzekļiem, 4 jo mūsu cīņas ieroči nav miesiski, bet Dieva doti – vareni, kas spēj sagraut cietokšņus. Mēs apgāžam prāta sagudrojumus 5 un jebkuru augstprātību, kas saceļas pret Dieva atzīšanu, mēs sagūstām jebkuru domu, lai tā kļūtu paklausīga Kristum. 6 Mēs esam gatavi nosodīt ikvienu novēršanos no paklausības, kad jūsu paklausība būs pilnīga. 7 Ņem vērā to, kas labi redzams! Ja kāds ir sevī pārliecināts, ka viņš pieder Kristum, lai viņš spriež par savu piederību Kristum: kā viņš pieder Kristum, tāpat arī mēs. 8 Ja arī es pārāk dižotos ar varu, ko Kungs mums ir devis jūsu garīgai celšanai, ne graušanai, es par to nekaunēšos. 9 Lai nedomā par mani, ka es gribu jūs nobiedēt ar savām vēstulēm. 10 Daži saka: viņa vēstules gan ir skarbas un spēcīgas, bet klātesot viņš ir nevarīgs, un viņa sacītais nav vērā ņemams. 11 Tad nu lai tie zina: kādi prombūtnē esam vārdos, rakstot vēstules, tādi paši esam klātbūtnē darbos. 12 Mēs neļaujam sevi pieskaitīt tiem vai salīdzināt ar tiem, kas paši sevi grib izcelt, jo tie, kas paši sevi ar sevi mēra un ar sevi salīdzinās, nav prātīgi. 13 Arī ar savu lielīšanos mēs netiecamies pāri mēram, bet līdz tai robežai, ko mums kā mēru ir piešķīris Dievs – nokļūt līdz jums. 14 Mēs nebūt nepārspīlējam – it kā mēs nebūtu līdz jums nokļuvuši – jo Kristus evaņģēlija sludināšanā mēs esam līdz jums nokļuvuši. 15 Mēs nelielāmies pāri mēram tur, kur pūlējušies citi, bet mums ir cerība, ka, jūsu ticībai aizvien augot, mēs neizmērojami pieaugsim lielumā mums piešķirtajās robežās jūsu vidū, 16 lai, ietiecoties zemēs vēl tālāk aiz jums, evaņģelizētu arī tur, bet ne lai lielītos par to, kas svešās robežās jau padarīts. 17 Bet, kas lielās, lai lielās ar Kungu. 18 Ne tas ir atzīstams, kas pats izceļas, bet tas, ko izceļ Kungs.
