What does 2 Timothy 2:24 mean?

Paul continues his discussion about quarrels from the previous verse and adds, "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome." Paul had previously called Timothy to be a "good servant of Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 4:6). Paul described himself as a "servant of God" (Titus 1:1). The word translated "servant" here is doulos, literally meaning a bondservant or slave. Timothy was to view himself as a slave to the Lord, not quarreling in his work.

In contrast, Paul gave four positive attributes for Timothy to follow. The first three are found in this verse. First, Timothy was to be "kind to everyone." The Lord is kind (Luke 6:35) and expects the same from His servants. Love is "patient and kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4). Believers are to be "kind to one another" (Ephesians 4:32). Kindness can be shown even by unbelievers (Acts 28:2), but is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) that should be true of every servant of Christ. Servants are also to be "able to teach" (1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9), and be "patiently enduring evil," the fourth of six times endurance is mentioned in 2 Timothy (2 Timothy 2:10, 12; 3:11; 4:3, 5).