6 1We are workers together with God. So we beg you: Don't let the gracea that you received from God be for nothing. 2God says,
3We don't want people to find anything wrong with our work. So we do nothing that will be a problem to others. 4But in every way we show that we are servants of God. We never give up, even though we face troubles, difficulties, and problems of every kind. 5We are beaten and thrown into prison. People get upset at us and fight against us. We work hard, and sometimes we get no sleep or food. 6We show that we are God's servants by our pure lives, by our understanding, by our patience, and by our kindness. We show it by the Holy Spiritc, by genuine love, 7by speaking the truth, and by depending on God's power. This right way of living has prepared us to defend ourselves against every kind of attack. 8Some people honor us, but others shame us. Some people say good things about us, but others say bad things. Some people say we are liars, but we speak the truth. 9To some people we are not known, but we are well known. We seem to be dying, but look! We continue to live. We are punished, but we are not killed. 10We have much sadness, but we are always rejoicing. We are poor, but we are making many people rich in faith. We have nothing, but really we have everything. 11We have spoken freely to you people in Corinth. We have opened our hearts to you. 12Our feelings of love for you have not stopped. It is you who have stopped your feelings of love for us. 13I speak to you as if you were my children. Do the same as we have done - open your hearts also.
agrace The love and kindness that God shows in his complete willingness to give people favors he does not owe them and blessings they don¡¯t deserve. bIsaiah 49:8 cHoly Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. In union with God and Christ, he does God¡¯s work among people in the world. d6:15 the devil Literally, ¡°beliar,¡± one form of the Hebrew word ¡°belial,¡± which means ¡°worthlessness¡± and was used to refer to the devil or the enemy of Christ. e6:16 God¡¯s temple God¡¯s house - the place where God¡¯s people worship him. Here, it means that believers are the spiritual temple where God lives. fidol A statue of a false god that people worship. It can also mean anything that is more important to a person than God. gLeviticus 26:11-12 hIsaiah 52:11 i2 Samuel 7:8, 14 |