2 Corinthians 10:1-11 Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away.

BSB⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away. ² I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh. ³ For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. ⁴ The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete. ⁷ You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does. ⁸ For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed. ⁹ I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you by my letters. ¹⁰ For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.” ¹¹ Such people should consider that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in our actions when present.