13 When someone curses us, we answer with kind words. Until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and rubbish of this world.
14 I am not writing to embarrass you. I want to help you, just as parents help their own dear children.
15 Ten thousand people may teach you about Christ, but I am your only father. You became my children when I told you about Christ Jesus,
16 and I want you to be like me.
17 That's why I sent Timothy to you. I love him like a son, and he is a faithful servant of the Lord. Timothy will tell you what I do to follow Christ and how it agrees with what I always teach about Christ in every church.
18 Some of you think I am not coming for a visit, and so you are boasting.
19 But if the Lord lets me come, I will soon be there. Then I will find out if the ones who are doing all this boasting really have any power.