Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command …
Summary: The reason for Paul’s command to Timothy is that others were teaching false gospels. Why they were doing this is open to speculation, so let’s speculate!
“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.” (1 Timothy 1:3-4a)
It is helpful to pause once more and reflect on Paul’s “command.”
As we have discussed in prior meditations, there was a problem with people teaching “false doctrines.” Why would anyone do this?
The answer, it turns out, is as old as humankind itself.
The Tenth Commandment gives us a clue:
“And you shall not covet … anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Deuteronomy 5:21)
People covet. They are often envious and jealous of what others have or have accomplished. When people feel this way, their expression of envy can be ugly.
In doing research for our recent meditation, “Glory” (1 Timothy 1:17f), I was shocked to read that when the statue “David” was moved from Opera del Duomo, where Michelangelo did his work, to the Piazza della Signoria, where it was displayed, it was attacked by envious artists.
Apparently, a guard had to accompany the giant statue during its four-day journey “to protect it from violence by other artists … who had hoped for the commission.”*
They actually threw stones at it! To this day, there are marks on the statue’s back where stones flung at the statue chipped the marble.
Even as recently as 1991, a deranged artist snuck a hammer into the museum and started banging on David’s left foot. Before guards could stop him, he had broken off several chunks of marble (some of which were later recovered from tourists trying to sneak them out of the museum!).
Envy is an ugly thing, and jealousy is an evil master.
We don’t know exactly why people pushed false doctrines, but it is not hard to imagine that they were envious and wanted to “throw stones” at the work Paul had done.
What they failed to see was the man behind Paul — Jesus. They weren’t fighting against Paul; they were fighting against God.
Application: Guard your heart against coveting.
Food for Thought: What message does tearing down what others have built send to the world?
*Wikipedia. “David (Michelangelo)” Wikipedia, 18 February 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)
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