Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:15-18 NIV
This is one of those verses that has saved my bacon many, many times, and will save it many times in the future. In this passage, Paul is warning Timothy not to indulge in godless chatter. But he's not just telling Timothy this because God forbids it, but as with all sins, there are reasons why it should be avoided. With this particular sin, godless chatter, the results are that it leads to further ungodliness and spiritual death. Paul even compares the results of this sin to gangrene - it causes death, and then that death spreads if it is not quickly cut off. We even see examples of two men who have indulged in godless chatter (Hymenaeus and Philetus), and we can see the fruits of this for ourselves: they destroy not only their own faith, but the faith of others as well. And what caused - or at least contributed to - this in the first place? Wandering away from the truth through godless chatter.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV
I may be the only one who resounds with this teaching of today, but I tend to doubt it. I'm sure we've all been in the position where someone rubs you the wrong way, and you have two choices: you can either choose to dwell on and gossip about the wrongs of this person (and sometimes they can even seen justified), or you can pray to God and ask Him to calm your heart so that you can love that person and build him or her up. If you choose the latter, although it is much more difficult to do (indeed, we need to rely on God's help to make this choice), you will be allowing God to use you for good. But if you choose the former, not only will it slander and tear down the other person, but you will be contributing to your own spiritual destruction. You will be giving yourself gangrene.
I don't know about anyone else, but I've been in this position many times - and unbeknownst to me, I was participating in my own self-destruction. I find that when I do this, I can get stuck in ruts of bitterness for days, weeks, or even months, that I can only be rescued from when I come to the end of myself, surrender to God, and allow Him to pick me up and clean out my wicked, gangrene-infected heart.
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. 2 Timothy 2:16-17
It's no fun having spiritual gangrene; in fact, it's a rather miserable experience for all parties involved. However, I think you would agree that it is so much easier to avoid the entire situation completely by following these words of wisdom that Paul offers to Timothy, and each and every one of us as well. Avoid it, do not indulge in it, but rather seek to build one another up in love - it really is the better way.
Blessings in Christ,
Andrew
