For if I were to make you sad, who would be left to cheer me up? Only the very persons I had made sad.

I am so sure of you; I take such pride in you! In all our troubles I am still full of courage; I am running over with joy.

But God, who encourages the downhearted, encouraged us with the coming of Titus.

I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind.

So then, my friends, how dear you are to me and how I miss you! How happy you make me, and how proud I am of you!---this, dear friends, is how you should stand firm in your life in the Lord.

After all, it is you---you, no less than others!---who are our hope, our joy, and our reason for boasting of our victory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes.

Indeed, you are our pride and our joy!

So, in all our trouble and suffering we have been encouraged about you, friends. It was your faith that encouraged us,

Now we can give thanks to our God for you. We thank him for the joy we have in his presence because of you.

Obey your leaders and follow their orders. They watch over your souls without resting, since they must give to God an account of their service. If you obey them, they will do their work gladly; if not, they will do it with sadness, and that would be of no help to you.

Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children live in the truth.

Your love, dear brother, has brought me great joy and much encouragement! You have cheered the hearts of all of God's people.

I am sending him back to you now, and with him goes my heart.

God is my witness that I tell the truth when I say that my deep feeling for you all comes from the heart of Christ Jesus himself.

Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another.

If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God?