8 For even if I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed,
9 lest I appear to frighten you by my letters.
10 “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”
11 Let such a person consider this: that as we are in word by letters when we are absent, we will also be in deed when we are present.
12 For we dare not count or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. They who measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another are not wise.
13 But we will not boast beyond measure, but within the boundaries which God has appointed us, which reach even you.
14 For we are not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you, since we have come to you, preaching the gospel of Christ.