Avoiding Misplaced Focus

When I read Paul’s words to Timothy in this passage below, I don’t hear rebuke as much as I hear him exhorting resetting. Paul is not addressing obvious rebellion or immoral behavior; he is addressing something far more subtle and far more dangerous from a Kingdom perspective—a misplaced focus that appears spiritual but quietly pulls people away from the heart of God’s government.

Paul urges Timothy to remain in Ephesus because the problem there was not a denial of God or Scripture. Instead, people were becoming consumed with teachings that sounded deep and intriguing but produced no life. Legends, myths, and endless genealogies may have carried an appearance of wisdom, insight, or spiritual maturity, yet Paul exposes their true fruit: speculation, arguments, and endless discussion that never leads to transformation. From a Kingdom perspective, this is not harmless curiosity; it is distraction. The Kingdom of God is not advanced through conversation alone but through submission to God’s rule in the human heart.

What Paul calls “God’s program of instruction” is deeply important here. Kingdom instruction is not merely the transfer of information. It is the process by which a life comes under the governing influence of the King. Faith, in this sense, is not intellectual agreement or theological precision. It is relational trust that results in surrender. When instruction no longer leads a person toward trust, obedience, and alignment with God’s will, it ceases to function as Kingdom instruction, regardless of how biblical or spiritual it may sound.

Paul then reveals the true aim of Kingdom teaching when he says that the goal of instruction is love. This love is not emotional sentiment or religious politeness. It is the natural fruit that grows out of a life properly aligned with God’s government. Love flows from a pure heart that has been cleansed of mixed motives, from a good conscience that no longer lives in contradiction, and from a sincere faith that is authentic rather than performative. When the Kingdom is ruling within, love becomes the evidence, not argumentation or spiritual superiority.

What makes this warning especially sobering is that Paul says some had wandered away from these things. They did not necessarily abandon faith or fall into obvious sin. They drifted. They exchanged surrender for discussion and transformation for talk. They remained active, engaged, and religious, yet lost the very substance the Kingdom is meant to produce. From a Kingdom lens, wandering does not always look like rebellion; often it looks like distraction wrapped in spirituality.

I cannot read this passage without recognizing my own journey in it. There was a season when I knew Scripture well, when I had been trained, educated, and equipped to discuss theology at length. Yet knowledge alone did not bring alignment, and being right did not mean I was ruled. It was only when I stopped chasing explanations and began surrendering governance that the Kingdom moved from concept to reality in my life.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy is timeless. If what we are learning, teaching, or discussing does not lead us into deeper trust, deeper surrender, and deeper love, then it is not advancing the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not measured by how much we know or how well we argue. It is revealed by how fully the King reigns within us.

“As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain individuals not to teach any different doctrines, nor to pay attention to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation and meaningless arguments rather than advancing God’s program of instruction which is grounded in faith [and requires surrendering the entire self to God in absolute trust and confidence]. But the goal of our instruction is love [which springs] from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some individuals have wandered away from these things into empty arguments and useless discussions,”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭AMP‬‬