If there was one thing Paul could not stand, it was wasting his time! God’s people are constantly being seduced into meaningless or divisive discussions while neglecting matters of real consequence. Paul’s sagacious advice to Timothy was to avoid being drawn into time-consuming and unproductive conversations.
It can be tempting to speculate about matters of trivia. There is always a casual conversation at hand about recent sporting events or weather changes or political developments, if we want to waste our time. But Paul knew how important his time was. What could almighty God accomplish with one hour of Paul’s time? Paul knew. He had witnessed God using his life powerfully, many times before. He always wanted God to do it again.
Paul may have known that tenderhearted Timothy would want to be kind to those he led. Perhaps Timothy may have been timid to change the direction of a conversation or to walk away from one that was unprofitable. So Paul cautioned him. Avoid conversations that are purposeless. There is too much important work to be done, for God’s servants to squander their valuable time!