Reaffirm Your Love

¹But I made up my mind not to grieve you with another painful visit. ² For if I cause you grief [by a well-deserved rebuke], who then provides me enjoyment but the very one whom I have made sad? ³ And I ^[a]wrote this same thing to you, so that when I came, I would not be filled with sorrow by those who ought to make me glad, for I trusted in you and felt confident that my joy would be shared by all of you. ⁴ For I wrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the [overflowing] love which I have especially for you.

⁵ But if ^[b]someone has caused [all this] sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some degree—not to put it too severely—[he has distressed and grieved] all of you. ⁶ For such a one this punishment by the majority is sufficient, ⁷ so instead [of further rebuke, now] you should rather [graciously] forgive and comfort and encourage him, to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ Therefore I urge you to reinstate him in your affections and reaffirm your ^[c]love for him. ⁹ For this was my purpose in writing, to see if you would stand the test, whether you are obedient and committed to following my instruction in all things. ¹⁰ If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive [that one]; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of [and with the approval of] Christ, ¹¹ to keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

¹² Now when I arrived at Troas to preach the good news of Christ, even though a door [of opportunity] opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there; so saying goodbye to them, I left for Macedonia.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. ¹⁵ For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which ascends] to God, [discernible both] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ¹⁶ to the latter one an aroma from death to death [a fatal, offensive odor], but to the other an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is adequate and sufficiently qualified for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not like many, [acting like merchants] peddling God’s word [shortchanging and adulterating God’s message]; but from pure [uncompromised] motives, as [commissioned and sent] from God, we speak [His message] in Christ in the sight of God.