Paul has spoken sharply (1 Corinthians 4:7–13). He now adopts a gentler tone, explaining the reason for his sharp rebuke. He has admonished the Corinthians in love, as a father admonishes his children.
In Jewish writings (see also Ephesians 6:4), the word admonish
(noutheteo) is regularly used to describe the task of a father. A father admonishes with both authority and love. The sharpness of an admonition is tempered when it is given in the context of a loving parent-child relationship
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.