because our good news didn’t just come to you through our words. It came with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with great confidence. You know what we went through for your sake when we were with you.
With God’s help, we’ve acted toward everyone, and especially toward you, honorably and honestly. We can say that with pride and a clear conscience. We’ve depended on God’s grace and not on the world’s wisdom.
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you’re a young person. Instead, set an example for the believers in what you say and in how you live, how you love, and in what you believe. Show the believers how to be pure.
Knowing we’re going to face judgment puts the fear of God in us, and we don’t pretend to anyone that we’re something we’re not. What we truly are is clear to God, and I hope that you’re clearly aware of it too.
Instead, we refuse to do secret and shameful things. We don’t trick anyone, and we don’t twist God’s word. We do just the opposite! We present the truth plainly so that everyone can judge us in their own conscience before God.