The servant of the Lord must not strive;
but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.
–2 Timothy 2:24 (KJV)–

He cautions him against contention, and, to prevent this (2 Timothy 2:23), cautions him against foolish and unlearned questions, that tend to no benefit, strifes of words. Those who advanced them, and doted upon them, thought themselves wise and learned; but Paul calls them foolish and unlearned. The mischief of these is that they gender strifes, that they breed debates and quarrels among Christians and ministers. It is very remarkable how often, and with what seriousness, the apostle cautions Timothy against disputes in religion, which surely was not without some such design as this, to show that religion consists more in believing and practising what God requires than in subtle disputes.–The servant of the Lord must not strive, 2 Timothy 2:24. Nothing worse becomes the servant of the Lord Jesus, who himself did not strive nor cry (Matthew 12:19), but was a pattern of meekness, and mildness, and gentleness to all, than strife and contention. The servant of the Lord must be gentle to all men, and thereby show that he is himself subject to the commanding power of that holy religion which he is employed in preaching and propagating.

—MATTHEW HENRY’S COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY 2:24–