14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.
“Remind them of these things.” Remind whom? Remind them of what? Paul tells Timothy to remind Christians. Remind Christians of the four statements in 2 Timothy 2.11-13. Remind seems to indicate that we need to be told over and over again. We forget we ignore we get caught up in our own lives. We need to be told again. Remember our citizenship is in heaven. We are here for a greater purpose. When we forget that, we deny God a part of our lives and then we are denied part of God’s blessings. Remind each other what our purpose is here on this earth. We are a part of God’s redemptive plan and He wants us to spread His word. Every action we make should have God’s redemptive plan on our minds. One of Satan’s big tricks is to get us distracted. He wants us to do other things that are not necessarily bad but they distract us from the plan of God. If he can do that, he has accomplished his mission.
“not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.”
Paul tells us not to get involved in silly arguments. Sometimes you have to agree to disagree. Here is a good story for you. I grew up in a very strict Baptist church. They thought they were the only ones going to heaven. As I got older and moved away, I found myself not being able to find a Baptist church I liked. I tried a Christian church and they had many different beliefs than mine. I debated with some others I did not. I found that I did not change their mind and they did not change mine. I stopped debating and joined the church. I found out that Baptists were not the only ones going to heaven. I learned that yes, there are certain deal-breakers so to speak but there were none at this church. This taught me a powerful lesson in life.
There is no reason to argue with someone when you are not going to change his or her mind. God does not force himself on anyone. Let the Holy Spirit guide you when you are to speak for God. Make it faith and not religion. The only good that comes from two people arguing is ruin. It causes contempt, disdain and resentment. This ruins relationships and there will be no advancement of the gospel. Remember let the message offend not the messenger.
