2 Corinthians 4

₁God was very good to us. He gave us the work of telling the message that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that is why we are not discouraged. ₂We have turned away from sin and the things that we are ashamed of, things that we don't want other people to see. We don't do those things anymore. We don't cheat anyone and we don't change the teaching of God and make it false. We tell only the truth and God is looking at us. That is why everyone can trust us.

₃If there is a veil over the Good_News that we tell to some people and they do not understand the message, it is because those people are lost. ₄The god of this world has closed the eyes and minds of the unbelievers. They can not see the light of the Good_News that says Christ, who came to show us what God is like, is the King. ₅We tell the message about Jesus Christ who is Lord. We don't tell people about ourselves. You should know that we are your slaves because we are telling you the message of Jesus. ₆We do this because God said: ‘Let the light shine out of the darkness.’

That is how God has also shone his light into our hearts. He has given us his light so that we can know that He is the King and that Jesus Christ is also King. Yes, Jesus came to show us what God is like.

₇This message about Jesus Christ is a wonderful treasure. God has put this message away in clay_jars which are not strong and can break easily, and we are those clay_jars. Everyone must see that this message has great power because it comes from God and not from us. ₈We suffer every day, and we have all sorts of trouble, but we are alive. We don't always know what to do, but we are not discouraged. ₉People want to kill us, but God helps us. He will not leave us. People beat us and we fall, but we don't die. ₁₀When you see how we suffer and almost die, then you can see how Jesus suffered and died. And when you see how we live, then you can also see that Jesus lives. ₁₁While we live here on earth God lets us suffer and we are in danger and near our death because we work for Jesus. But when you see that we live, God shows you that Jesus is alive. He shows it to all of us who will die later. ₁₂That is why, while we keep fighting not to die, you are getting life. ₁₃In the Old_Testament it is written:

We also have the Holy_Spirit who gives us faith. We believe and that is why we speak. ₁₄God made Jesus live again and we know that God will also make us live again, as He raised Jesus. God will take us with you and let us stand before Him. ₁₅All these things are helping you and that is how God will be gracious to more and more people, and more people will thank God and He will get all the glory.

₁₆That is why we are not discouraged. Our bodies are dying, but God makes our spiritual_life strong and new every day. ₁₇When we suffer, it is only for a short while and the suffering is not that bad. Later this suffering will bring us something better than anything we know now. It will bring something very important. We will always be with God. ₁₈That is why the things that we can see now are not important to us. The things that we can not see are important. The things that we can see are here only for a short while, but the things that we can not see are forever.