Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love,

I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love by comparison with the eagerness of others.

Therefore show them openly before the churches the proof of your love and of our pride in you.

For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died.

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

[[EMPTY]]

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you.

But as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you – make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too.