15 Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
16 Therefore, I urge you, be imitators of me.
17 For this reason I am sending you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord; he will remind you of my ways in Christ [Jesus], just as I teach them everywhere in every church.
18 Some have become inflated with pride, as if I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I shall ascertain not the talk of these inflated people but their power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
21 Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a gentle spirit?