Read the Bible

Paul Sets 'Em Straight

¹ Listen boys, I'm writing to you with all the kindness Jesus has given me. Some of y'all think I talk big in letters and small in person, but that ain't the case at all. ² I sure hope the ones who think this reconsider their opinion before I get there. I don't want to have to use this type of boldness in person if I don't have to. We don't do what we do for worldly gain.

³ We are just cowboys, but we don't fight our battles like the rest of the world does. ⁴ We use weapons from God to destroy the enemy fortresses and obliterate people's best arguments against God. ⁵ We smash every proud opinion that is contrary to the knowledge of God. We rope every thought and break it to lead by obeying Christ. ⁶ We won't hesitate to punish anyone who tries to do their own thing in this outfit. That ain't what we want though. We want you to ride for the brand and follow Jesus.

⁷ Look at the facts instead of just listening to roosters crowing. If someone says they ride for the brand, then we do the same. There is only one brand. ⁸ Some might think we brag too much about the authority Jesus gave us. But this authority is only used to make y'all better cowboys, not hurt you. ⁹ I'm not trying to be a bully with my letters. ¹⁰ I've heard that people say, "Paul can write a powerful letter and seems strong, but when he's here, he's kind of a sissy." ¹¹ When I get there, I will show these people how much of a sissy I am . . . and they won't like it.

¹² We don't compare ourselves with self-important cowboys. When you make yourself the standard, it ain't hard to live up to it. When you make the rules, it's not hard to abide by them. These people ain't important. They're fools and know nothing.

¹³ But we ain't going to brag about anything more than the job Jesus gave us to do. He gave us some country to gather and we are proud of the job we've done. Y'all are part of this country we've gathered. ¹⁴ We ain't bragging about something we haven't done. We were the first to travel all the way to Corinth and bring y'all the good news.

¹⁵ We don't include another cowboy's work in our tally book. We stand on what we've done. What we want is your faith to grow so our gathering will grow as well. ¹⁶ When we get new country to ride in, we will be able to gather new cowboys for the brand. We don't want someone else's country that has already been picked through. We want raw, untamed, wild country to ride in. Then no one can say we bragged about what someone else did. ¹⁷ Remember, the Good Book says, "If you're gonna brag, brag about the Lord."

¹⁸ Patting yourself on the back don't count for nothing. Ride in a way where God will do the pattin'.