Why is it easier to write than to confront someone face to face when there are hard feelings?
Writing lets a person express thoughts without the immediate pressure of a face-to-face encounter. When hard feelings exist, a letter can avoid an overly stern confrontation and may accomplish more than a personal meeting. The writer can communicate carefully rather than risk worsening the situation in person.
Les explains that instead of going personally and coming down on the Corinthians, Paul wrote a second letter. Les says we can appreciate this because we have all found ourselves in positions where we had hard feelings, perhaps with a family member, and it is so much easier to write our thoughts rather than try to approach them face to face. Les thinks this is exactly how Paul felt: he could do more by writing than if he went and met them personally and became possibly over stern. Paul had wanted to come to Corinth and deal with their problems personally, but he did not make it, and his detractors used that against him.