Paul wrote of his ministry using the figures of a planter and a builder (3:6, 10). Here he writes figuratively of himself as the father of the Corinthians in that through the preaching of the gospel he had begotten them (1 Corinthians 4:14-21). His desire was not to shame them for their sins, but to warn them as a father would his beloved children. As their father, he urged them to imitate him. He also sent Timothy to them who also was Paul’s child in the faith. But unlike the Corinthians, Timothy was a faithful child and would model Paul’s ways in Christ and teach them the things Paul taught in every church. If the Corinthians did not change, Paul would come to correct and discipline them. That he said he would use a rod is, of course, figurative language.