Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. (2 Tim. 2:16)
Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 2:16-19
When I was little and got mosquito bites, my mother would adjure me, “Don’t scratch! You’ll just make them worse.” She was right, of course. If I scratched the mosquito bites, they would get swollen and even more itchy. If I endured the irritation, however, and left them alone, the itching would gradually go away. But that did not make it any easier not to scratch them!
It is difficult to refrain from scratching mosquito bites. It is equally difficult to resist the urge to say that judgmental thing about a coworker who shirks his work, to use that “cool” forbidden word to show off with a group of friends, to make that controversial remark you know will rile an opinionated relative, or to restart that recurring argument with an annoying sibling. Godless chatter like this can be just as irresistible as an itchy mosquito bite.
However, just as scratching insect bites makes them itchier, indulging in godless chatter makes those who do it more ungodly. The more we engage in it, the more natural it becomes to continue doing it. Spreading gossip and discord hampers our ability to imitate Jesus by demonstrating God’s love to those around us. Instead of encouraging judgmental and abrasive conversation, we must leave that urge alone and refrain from godless chatter that divides us from God and each other. Don’t scratch that urge!
Resist the urge to engage in godless chatter.
Emma Dainty is a Houghton University (NY) senior who loves reading, birding, and deep conversations about books.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
