¹⁴ I do not write these things ^(A)to make you ashamed, but to admonish you ^(B)as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For ^(C)though you have countless^[a] guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For ^(D)I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶ I urge you, then, ^(E)be imitators of me. ¹⁷ That is why ^(F)I sent^[b] you Timothy, ^(G)my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,^{[c] (H)}as I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Some are ^(I)arrogant, ^(J)as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But ^(K)I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰ For ^(L)the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. ²¹ What do you wish? ^(M)Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?