7 You are looking at things as they are outwardly e . If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's , let him consider this again within himself , that just as he is Christ's , so also are we. 8 For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority , which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame , 9 for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters . 10 For they say , "His letters are weighty and strong , but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible ." 11 Let such a person consider this , that what we are in word by letters when absent , such persons we are also in deed when present .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:7-11
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:7-11
(Read 2 Corinthians 10:7-11)
In outward appearance, Paul was mean and despised in the eyes of some, but this was a false rule to judge by. We must not think that none outward appearance, as if the want of such things proved a man not to be a real Christian, or an able, faithful minister of the lowly Saviour.