in this way we were yearning for you. We were delighted to share with you not only the Good News of God but also our very souls, because you had become dear to us.
For this reason I write these things while I am absent, so that when I am present I need not proceed harshly, according to the authority which the Lord gave me—for building up and not for tearing down.
So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for the sake of the wrongdoer or for the sake of the one who was wronged, but to make known to you your diligence for us in the sight of God.
It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart—for you all are partakers of grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News.