2 Timothy 2:14-26 • Staying Faithful through Your Words

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The practice of using beneficial, grace-giving speech (speaking, texting, emailing, writing) should be considered a ‘spiritual discipline.’ Ephesians 4:29 says, “You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those who hear (NET).” I think if Paul were writing this today, he would have included words that come from our fingers too! In the last article, we looked at how to thrive as we stay faithful no matter the cost. This is post #6 in the 2 Timothy blog series. In this post, we will look at how to stay faithful to God through our words.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from our To Be Found Faithful Bible Study covering the book of 2 Timothy in the New Testament.

The Effects of Your Words

Words are a specific part of our way of life, aren’t they? Sadly, I have seen ministries unravel because of ugly or accusing words flying between Christians who are supposedly mature, some in leadership. “Dead bodies” lie all over the place because of words. The reality is that shrapnel from verbal bombshells wound innocent bystanders.

Warnings

In this section of Paul’s letter to Timothy, he told his friend to warn the Ephesian believers against quarreling about words.

“Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen … Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. … Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” (2 Timothy 2:14, 16, 23)

Notice all the kinds of words we should avoid and why.

• To “quarrel about words” means to contend or wrangle about words that are empty and concern trifling matters. Such quarreling about words is of no value and only ruins those who listen. It is so easy to get caught up in popular terminology that is valueless to those who are Christ-followers. Be aware of them but don’t argue about them. Redirect to something better.
• Godless chatter refers to profane, empty discussion of vain and useless matters. Paul warns that those who indulge in such profane and useless discussion will become more and more ungodly. You see this on social media. Ask the Lord for discernment. Is the chatter / discussion poisonous to those listening? If so, you must address it. If not, let it pass and move the conversation toward what is godly and useful to the listener.
• Foolish and stupid arguments refer to speculations, hypotheticals, and useless debates. They produce quarrels especially when you don’t have a definitive answer from God’s Word. Speculation can be dangerous when it creates doubt about the authority and trustworthiness of the Scriptures.

Words matter

Paul’s warnings are based on a real-life experience:

“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 departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:16-18)

Two people (Hymenaeus and Philetus) who once clung to the truth of the gospel were drawn away into error and began teaching it to others. They departed from the truth that only Christ had been resurrected so far and started claiming that the resurrection had already taken place. Their teaching spread like gangrene—a flesh-destroying infection—and destroyed the faith of some of those who listened. They were drawn away from Christ.

Words matter. So often, we take on the world’s words in our communications, especially on social media. We have knee jerk reactions and post things that are worldly and self-centered rather than godly and Christ-centered. Our words can draw the listener or the reader closer to Christ or push her further away from Christ. In our words, we are to stay faithful and useful to God.

Stop Toxic Talk

Rotten words

In Paul’s earlier letter to the Ephesians, he wrote in chapter 4,

“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.” (Ephesians 4:29

I think if Paul were writing this today, he would have included words that come from our fingers too! Don’t you?

Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. So what counts as unwholesome talk? The underlying Greek word literally means, “rotten.” Okay, so what is rotten talk? The obvious answer from this verse is anything that isn’t beneficial for the building up of the one who is listening (or reading). That is rotten talk. Other translations use the words foul and abusive. If it is unkind, accusing, malicious, or making others cringe or cry, it is unwholesome. Even toxic.

For more on this topic, read the blog, “Ephesians 4:29 • Christian, Stop Rotten Talk!”

Harsh criticism of people

Toxic talk is laced with harsh criticism. It plants seeds of doubt about others so that distrust and hurt feelings prevail based on gossip and slander.

A friend of mine recently told me of the change in her work environment that happened with the addition of one female co-worker. What was once a team-oriented, respect-and-support-each-other work climate went into toxic shock because of one woman in a matter of 3-4 weeks!

From the moment she stepped into her new job, Ms. Toxic began targeting her fellow administrative personnel (mainly women) with harsh criticism. No one had done this before in their “safe” little office. Pretty soon, Ms. Toxic had planted seeds of doubt in all the other women about each other so that distrust and hurt feelings prevailed based on gossip and slander. This was done without the managers recognizing what was happening. Finally, one of the hurting women cracked under the torture and spilled the beans to her boss.

The sad thing is that the woman who created the “toxic shock” work environment calls herself a Christian and attends a local Bible-teaching church. The pastor is well-known for his truthful sermons. She goes to church on Sunday, joins in the worship music and hears a sermon on being Christ-like all the time. Then, she leaves it at home when she goes to work on Monday and spews rotten talk from her mouth.

We as believers are to stay useful to God in how we use our words. That means all 20,000 words per day for women. At work or any group situation, do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth in the way of toxic talk about the other people.

Read the blog, “Don’t Bring Toxic Shock to Your Workplace” on Bible.org.

Then, there is grumbling and complaining.

Stop Grumbling and Complaining

Paul wrote this in Philippians chapter 4 verse 14,

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing,” (Philippians 2:4)

The effects of grumbling

Grumbling springs from an arrogant attitude expressed in muttering, whining, & griping. What starts out as grumbling and whining often leads to arguing and outright disputes. I am not talking about a discussion of facts or an official debate about facts. That is not arguing whenever you can leave emotions out of it.

Did you catch what I said that arguing starts out as grumbling and whining?

We live in a culture of complainers. Everywhere we turn we hear complaints. You know very well that we women have a strong tendency to mutter, grumble, whine, and gripe. And our relationships often feel the brunt of our “ungrateful” and “discontented” attitudes.

The trap of grumbling

My Facebook feed is often filled with alarm signals through a cleverly worded poem, a scathing video, or someone’s blog about how bad our society is. And we “drink” the whine—w-h-i–n-e. Then, we get riled up, pass it along to rile others up, and wait for the next one to come along that we can share. Whining about life is not very effective for changing anything.

Grumbling is a trap—this whining and pointing fingers at whatever because it doesn’t meet our expectations. That reminds me of how movies portray women when they see a mouse—jumping up on a chair, stomping feet up and down, hands waving in the air and yelling. That makes for a great movie scene, but it is not very effective for getting rid of the mouse!

Yes, our culture is broken. And yes, we need to be praying that our God will actively work in our culture. But guess what? He chooses to do that through us—you and me individually—as we build into the lives of those around us who need to know Jesus.

Be useful instead

Yes, it is easier and far more comfortable to whine about our culture and warn everyone about the bad that is going on around us than it is to intentionally pray for, spend time with, and share our faith with the neighbor right next door who is far from the God who created her. Yet, that is what Jesus commissioned each of us to do—to share with her the freedom and joy she can have in knowing Jesus. So we need to stop whining and start befriending.

There is a difference between complaining and seeing a problem and working toward a solution. When it is possible to change the outcome of a situation or make a difference to those who are already in our daily walk of life, we should take action. Even then, we must watch out for grumbling when others don’t see our way. Stop whining, and start being intentional.

Grumbling and arguing can cleave unity in a church body as much as the San Andreas Fault is splitting California. That’s unwholesome talk. Paul warned Timothy and us about it. Don’t do it.

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” (2 Timothy 2:23-24)

That is the better way. Eliminate the rotten talk and speak only what is helpful and beneficial.

Speak Helpful and Beneficial Words

“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.” (Ephesians 4:29

Building up according to needs

Helpful words build others up. To build up means to strengthen them in their faith and to promote their spiritual growth. Build others up according to their needs. That means you are paying attention to what their needs are. You love them and care about their spiritual growth. The person listening should love Jesus even more because of what you say. They should be drawn to follow Him more closely as His disciple through reading your words. Wow! If we actually obeyed our Lord in this, can you imagine the impact for the Kingdom?!

Beneficial to the listener

Our words should benefit those who listen. Considering what Paul recognized in Ephesus and his warnings to Timothy,

“Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26)

Quarrelsome people are operating under the devil’s influence. They use words to ensnare people in their trap.

Beneficial words bring someone back from false teaching. We love them back to the senses. It shows grace to them so that they can escape from the snare of the devil. The goal is to restore their relationship with Christ and to us.

Grace-givers

Our God has lavished His grace upon us and calls us to be grace-givers to others. Yet, we more quickly judge and criticize others than assume good will from them. And, if wounded, we want to fight back, spewing venom to make sure everyone knows we’ve been hurt.

God calls us to be grace givers, not only for the benefit of others, but because it is what is best for us! Through Christ living in us, we can take the grace God has lavished upon us and pour it back on someone else that it may “benefit those who listen.” Even correcting someone can be done in a beneficial, grace-giving way.

If your words do not help the person listening or reading by communicating encouragement and direction to live life God’s way, don’t say them! If your words do not make her love her Lord more, don’t text them! Don’t post it.

Words Are a Heart Issue

Words are a heart issue. Jesus said this in Mark chapter 7,

“For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” (Mark 7:21-22)

Evil thoughts, malicious words, slander, and arrogance spew from the heart. The Message translation says those things “vomit” from the heart. What a vivid picture!

By spewing such filth in her words, a Christian is revealing a heart that is not committed to obeying her Lord in this area. It is not the mouth that malfunctions. It is the heart!

Christians over the years have learned that certain practices such as daily devotionals, dedicated prayer, and giving help to keep the heart turned toward God. These are often called “spiritual disciplines.” Such disciplines may heighten your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s work in conforming your inner and outer self to look more like Jesus. What makes something a ‘spiritual discipline’ is that it takes a specific part of your way of life and turns it toward God. The practice of using beneficial, grace-giving words when speaking, texting, emailing, and writing should be considered a spiritual discipline.

So if you find yourself in a situation with another Christian where you are splattered with vicious and rotten words, I suggest you quote Ephesians 4:29 and respond, “Want to try that again?” Do the same if you hear rotten words come out of your mouth. Apologize and try it again.

Stay faithful to God through your words.

In the next post, we will look at what it means to stay faithful through grasping truth.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His faithfulness. Then, make the choice to stay faithful to Him for the rest of your life.

All of the above information is covered in the To Be Found Faithful Bible Study covering the book of 2 Timothy in the New Testament.

Related Resources:

• 2 Timothy blog series
• Stop Rotten Talk—A Commentary on Ephesians 4:29
• Don’t Bring Toxic Shock to Your Workplace

AI was not used to generate this post.