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1So, because we have this work to do through God’s mercy, we don’t give up.
2Instead, we refuse to do secret and shameful things. We don’t trick anyone, and we don’t twist God’s word. We do just the opposite! We present the truth plainly so that everyone can judge us in their own conscience before God.
3Our good news may still be hidden behind a veil for those who are being lost.
4The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they can’t see the light of the good news that makes Christ’s glory clear. He is the image of God.
5The message we preach isn’t about ourselves. It’s about Jesus Christ as Lord, and about ourselves as your servants for his sake.
6God said, “Let light shine out of darkness.” And he made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light we needed to know God’s glory, which is shown in the face of Christ.
7But we’re like clay jars that hold a valuable treasure. We carry the good news around in these earthly bodies of ours to show that its mighty power comes from God and not from us.
8We’re pressured from every side, but we never get crushed. Sometimes we don’t know which way to turn, but we never give up.
9People might attack us, but God never abandons us. We can get knocked down, but we’re never knocked out.
10We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies. In that way, the life of Jesus can be shown in our bodies.
11Though we’re alive, we’re always threatened by death because we’re serving Jesus. This happens so that his life can be shown in our earthly bodies.
12So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13It is written, “I believed, and so I’ve spoken.” We have that same spirit of faith, and so we also believe and speak.
14We know that the same God who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us up with Jesus and present both you and us to himself.
15All this is for your benefit, so that grace will reach more and more people, and they will become more and more thankful and give glory to God.
16That’s why we never give up. Though our bodies are becoming weaker and weaker, our spirits are being renewed day by day.
17Our troubles are small and they last only for a short time, but they’re earning a glory for us that will last forever. That glory outweighs all our troubles.
18So we don’t focus on what we can see. Instead, we focus on what we can’t see. That’s because the things that can be seen last only a short time, but the things that can’t be seen will last forever.