2 Corinthians 10

1I myself, 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.

2I beg you that when I am present I may not have to be bold with the confidence I expect to show against some who think we live by the standards of the flesh.

3For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.

4For the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the flesh, but they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

5We demolish arguments and every proud barrier raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

6And we are ready to punish every act of disobedience once your obedience is complete.

7Look at what is right in front of you. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him consider again that just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

8For even if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.

9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.

10For someone says, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is contemptible.”

11Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when we are absent, we will also do when we are present.

12We do not dare to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show that they have no understanding.

13We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the limits of the field that God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.

14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. We were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.

15We do not boast beyond limits in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith grows, our work among you may be greatly enlarged within our field,

16so that we may proclaim the good news in the regions beyond you, without boasting about work already done in another person’s field.

17“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.