22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
Paul has told Timothy that he wants him to pursue being a useful instrument for God, one of noble use. He then gives Timothy some practical examples of what nobility looks like when worked out in Christian living. We have a responsibility in the process of sanctification, the process of becoming useful to the Lord. Paul says we have a choice to make. We can either stay immature and pursue those desires that we normally grow out of, or we can choose to mature. Adults make choices than teenagers normally do and they result in different outcomes. When we are mature we recognize that our choices can have very negative consequences, so we are careful what choices we make. Teenagers often don’t recognize those consequences. Paul calls us to make mature choices, to flee those things that can lead us down paths of unrighteousness. We are to flee some things and pursue others. Read the text again. Evil gets exchanged for righteousness, faith, love and peace. I like the things Paul challenges us to pursue. They have positive eternal benefits. And we are not alone in that pursuit. All those who are called of the Lord are pursuing these same things. We are also not supposed to get sidetracked into arguments about nothing important. We are to be circumspect in our discussions. Not every discussion is worth our time. Some are in fact a waste of our time.
The Arnold Journey 