"So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you."
"For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you."In chapter 7 of this letter he writes, "I know that my letter hurt you." Subsequent to his painful visit, Paul wrote the Corinthians a hard letter in which a formal indictment was lodged against the church. Paul's letters were read aloud in public. His words contained necessary reprimands in a written document that would not change or fade. Thus the second wounding which Paul inflicted upon his beloved Corinthians was contained in the "painful" letter he wrote to them.
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent-not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive him and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven-if there was anything to forgive---I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'? Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
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