For we do not presume to classify or compare ourselves
with certain people
who commend themselves
but in measuring themselves
by themselves
and comparing themselves
with themselves
they do not understand.
But we, will not boast
beyond measure –
but according to the measure
of the limits which God assigned to us
that reaches even to you too .
For we are not overextending ourselves
as if we did not reach you,
for we have come even as far as you,
with the gospel of Christ.
We are not boasting
beyond measure
in other people’s labour,
but we have (the) hope
that as your faith grows
our ‘area of ministry’ will greatly be enlarged
so that we might preach the gospel
to the lands beyond you,
not boast of the work
already done in another’s area of ministry’.
So ‘Let the boaster, boast in the Lord.’1
For it is not the one (and them alone) commending themself,
who is approved,
but the one whom the Lord commends.
Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen
Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)