<p>12:19 <i>You think all this time that we are excusing ourselves to you. But in the sight of God we speak in Christ- </i>&quot;All this time&quot; is a significant phrase, in that it means that Paul's exuberant rejoicing at the Corinthians' loyalty and warm reception of Titus (2 Cor. 7) was him believing these things in his own mind, having the love which turned hope and fantasy into reality in his own imaginations. As often demonstrated, this letter is a flow of consciousness piece of writing, recorded under inspiration, allowing us a unique insight into the feelings of Paul- a man who so loved the weakest of his converts and lived out in psychological reality the truths expressed in his great love poem of 1 Cor. 13. All along, &quot;all this time&quot;, they had been sceptical, and Paul knew it; but he had the love that hoped and believed all things.</p><p><i>All things, beloved, are for your upbuilding- </i>Paul had earlier written exactly this to the Corinthians, when urging that &quot;all things be done unto upbuilding&quot; (1 Cor. 14:26). The recurring theme of 1 Corinthians was that the upbuilding of others should be paramount in the Christian life; and it was &quot;upbuilding&quot; which the way of the Spirit was all about. And Paul can say that it was this Spirit which motivated both Titus and himself (:18). It was God who was upbuilding the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:9 s.w.), but He operates in this work through human agents- every willing member of the body of Christ. All and every effort to upbuild others will have His blessing and we will sense that we are His vehicle in the work. But as with the case at Corinth, this is not to say that those we work with will necessarily respond.</p>