Does it now appear to you that I am trying to gain the approval of human beings rather than the approval of God? Am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
For this reason, I rejoice when I endure weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and distress for the sake of Christ. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and indeed will do even greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.
And now it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. The life I live now in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.
For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.