2 Corinthians 12:6
“For if I would desire to boast, I will not be foolish; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, so that no man may think more of me than that which he sees in me, or hears from me.”
What does 2 Corinthians 12:6 mean?
Paul is wrestling with something real here: he has genuinely impressive spiritual experiences to share, and it wouldn't even be dishonest to talk about them. But he makes a deliberate choice to hold back, because his goal isn't to inflate his reputation beyond what people can actually observe in his life and words. There's real wisdom in recognizing the gap between what sounds impressive when we talk about ourselves and what people can verify through knowing us. Paul is saying that his credibility matters more than his ego, and he'd rather be thought less of than risk misleading people about who he actually is. It's an unusually humble stance from someone with genuine authority, and it speaks to how much he cares about his community's trust in him rather than their admiration of him.