1. As for myself, Paul, I would do all things in the spirit of my profession, that is to say in a spirit of meekness and gentleness which underlies all the manifestations of the Christ — yes, that is the spirit in which I work, for it is the only way in which the Christ works.
11. And do not my deeds when present proceed from that same source as my words in absence? Does it require strong words from me to terrify you into subjection from a distance?
12-13. Is not the authority, of which they say I make too much and boast immoderately, is it not given me by God for your building up — not for your ruin — and does it fail me, does it ever make me ashamed of it? Does it not justify itself? I do not presume to judge my own capacities, and to set myself up over against other teachers, and compare my merits with theirs. For my own capacities do not enter into this question. I measure myself by the rule that God has established in me, not by vague standards that have never been and never can be subjected to a true reckoning and computation. My standard is the measuring rod and line of the perfect builder, and that same rule passes as far as to you, and passes on, too, beyond you to other lands which lie further off still. I shall go on, I hope and believe, to those more distant ones, even as I came to you.