1 Corinthians 4:11-21 ▼

11 Even to this very hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and mistreated and have no permanent home;

12 And labor, working with our own hands: being cursed we bless, being persecuted, we endure it;

13 Being reviled, we intreat;: we are looked upon as the refuse of the world, and we are the revilement of every man to this day.

14 I do not write these things to make you feel ashamed, but to advise you as beloved children.

15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you will have not many fathers: for in Jesus Christ I have begotten you through the gospel.

16 I beseech you therefore, to follow me.

17 This is why I have sent Ti-mo’the-us to you, who is my beloved son and faithful in the LORD, who shall remind you of my manner of life in Christ, just as I teach in all the churches.

18 There are some among you who are puffed up, thinking I am unwilling to come to you.

19 But I will come to you very soon, if the LORD wills, and then I shall find out not the words of these men who exalt themselves, but their power.

20 For the kingdom of God is not in the word, but in power.

21 Now what do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and in the spirit of meekness?