Please read the passage before reading the comments.
Not everybody in Corinth thought of St Paul as being greater even than sliced bread. Some thought of themselves as members of a super-nation or of a group of super apostles.
Paul’s credentials put him in line with the noblest of Israel’s ancestors. His lineage went back through Abraham and Israel back to the earliest Hebrew ancestors of his people. This, however, did not give him anything about which to boast.
The ancient world felt that a philosopher’s truthfulness was best gauged by the suffering and difficulties the prophet had sustained. Accordingly, Paul listed the sufferings and difficulties he had endured in bringing God’s message to the people of the world. He claimed to have suffered more than all the other “super-apostles”. This, however, did not make him better than others.
Suffering in itself does not make us great or prove the truthfulness of our message. Our biological heritage does not make us better than others. Even our membership in a church or other religious organization does not make us better than others. Paul thought it best to boast of his weaknesses because his weakness showed the strength of God’s power in the world.
God calls us to listen to God’s word, to give service to others, and to recognize our unity with each other in God.