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The tender term beloved reminded the Corinthians that though Paul was at times exasperated with them, he nevertheless loved them as his spiritual children. It was not his intent to use his apostolic authority to destroy them; God gave him that authority for building them up and not for destroying them. The Corinthian church was not Paul’s judge, but they were his spiritual responsibility. Paul was striving to build up the Corinthian church by teaching them how to edify one another. The text teaches us how to edify the ministry (13-16), the Magistrate (17-18), and the messengers (vs. 19-21).