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®.

Warn them before God against quarreling about words. (2 Tim. 2:14)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 2:14-15

Frequently, in the midst of a heated discussion, I realize I am so focused on simply being right that I have become blinded to the multifaceted subject as a whole. I miss the wider point—and worse, forget the importance of the person before me, losing my chance to speak loving truth into that person’s life.

It is easy to get so caught up in defending the minutiae of our opinions and ideologies that we miss the point of the gospel. The Pharisees were an example of this tendency. They were so focused on arguing with Jesus on points of religion that they missed the point of his coming. They missed the glorious reason Jesus came: to redeem them from fatal sin.

If we cannot see past mere words and arguments, we can miss the wider message of the gospel. Jesus used some very strong arguments against certain people and behaviors, but his goal was never to prove himself right. Jesus always kept God’s goal foremost: to lovingly spread God’s truth. If we think the goal is to always win an argument, we miss the point of Jesus’ life and teaching. Yes, we should endeavor always to bring God’s truth wherever we go, but we must spread it in a way that emulates Jesus. The point is to live and love others like Jesus.

Direct your focus to the real reason Jesus came.

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®.

Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path. (Ps. 119:127–128)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 119:121-128

When the Communists took over China in 1949, they expelled foreign missionaries and persecuted Christian national workers. Evvy Hay Campbell tells of a “Bible lady” who had been working with an American missionary. She was thrown into a prison cell with eleven men, among them murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals. Before her captors realized what was happening and moved her to another cell, she had led all eleven to the Lord.

For thirty years she was imprisoned for her faith. When she was finally released, she asked her Christian friends for a Bible. Holding God’s Word in her hands for the first time in three decades, she pressed it close to her heart and kept repeating, “Precious. Precious. Precious.”

As you read this, a seeker in a former Soviet republic in Central Asia is standing in line to get a Bible from limited supplies shipped from the West. A North Korean family is risking everything to hide a battered New Testament. A Pacific islander is looking in on a Bible translator to ask, “Is it finished yet?” They all agree. God’s Word is precious.

Paul testified to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” I’m writing in the margin, “And is more precious than gold.”

Love the Word and live the Word today and every day.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 2:3)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:3-14; 2:1-7

America’s semiquincentennial is just ahead. (That’s not a word you hear every day!) On July 4, 2026, the nation will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Red, white, and blue will be the national color scheme, and patriotism—the right kind of patriotism, one can pray—will flourish across the land. Part of the celebration will focus on those who fought to win (and later, those who fought to preserve) that freedom.

Paul could relate. Military metaphors are common in his letters, from the whole armor of God (Eph. 6) to the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 1; 2 Tim. 4). In this second letter to Timothy, Paul compares our spiritual struggles to warfare, with all the deprivation and hardship associated with soldiering. Being a Christian is a lot like being a soldier, but the stakes are even higher. Spiritual battles determine spiritual destinies for all eternity.

When Paul was writing his letter to Timothy, he was in a Roman prison, surrounded by soldiers. They didn’t realize that Paul was a soldier too, and they certainly didn’t realize that this man in chains was winning his war! Paul’s prayer was that Timothy would win his war as well.

Two thousand years later, may that be true of us as well.

Onward, Christian soldiers!

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. (2 Tim. 1:16)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:15-18

Washington, DC, is a city of monuments, but one that is largely overlooked is a memorial to sailors in the Merchant Marine Corps who fell in World War I. The inscription is gripping. It announces that the memorial is dedicated to those who were “Great without Glory.”

That describes Paul’s friend Onesiphorus perfectly. Few of us would think to name him as a New Testament hero, but that’s what he was to the apostle Paul. In more than one passage in this letter, Paul mentions former colleagues who deserted him when he was arrested and imprisoned. Onesiphorus never wavered. We’re not told the details, but we know that he put himself at risk to be of help to Paul and to advance the gospel. He was “great without glory.”

The same could be said of other coworkers Paul salutes in his letters—lesser-known names like Aristarchus, Epaphroditus, Tychicus, and many more. That shouldn’t surprise us. Christ has always had countless followers who are better known in heaven than on earth. It’s fine if our names never make it into history books, as long as we’re in the book that counts—the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 21:27).

Collectively, if not individually, ordinary people like us become world-changers by serving our extraordinary Lord.

Let the glory go to God.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. (2 Tim. 1:12)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:11-14

News flash! There’s a lot of bad theology out there. The ever-present prosperity gospel is still promising health and wealth to all who “send a love-gift to this ministry,” and well-meaning folks are still knocking on doors, eager to set us straight on our end-times theology. Some in the church defend unbiblical sexual values and practices, while others come dangerously close to equating faith and politics.

A good grasp of sound theology is essential. Knowing what we believe is vitally important, and knowing why we believe it takes that faith a crucial step further. But there is a prior and greater need. Above all, we must know whom we believe. Christianity is not merely an abstract philosophy or an enlightened moral code. It isn’t just a set of beliefs to accept or rules of conduct to follow. At the heart of the faith is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ” (Phil. 3:10) in a deeper way. He went on to add that he wanted not only to enjoy the benefits of that relationship (“the power of his resurrection”) but also to share in its cost (“participation in his sufferings”).

Knowing about Christ is not enough. We must know him.

Know Christ, and make him known.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. (2 Tim. 1:9)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:8-10

Many Christians know their spiritual birthday, the day they were born again. I wish I did. I came to faith in Christ at such an early age that I can’t point to a calendar date.

Actually, I also can’t say when atonement was made for my sin (and yours, too, for that matter). We know that Christ died and rose again at the Passover season around AD 30. In the framework of human history, that’s when redemption became a possibility for all of us. In a more profound sense, though, it’s impossible to determine the actual time of our atonement for the simple but astounding reason that it took place “before the beginning of time”! Paul affirms John’s declaration that Christ is the Lamb slain “from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

Before the fall, God knew that those he created in his image would sin, that we would need redemption, and that only through the sacrifice of his sinless Son would that be possible. In the timeless stretches of eternity, the second person of the Trinity agreed. It still remained to be acted out on the stage of history (“revealed,” 2 Tim. 1:10), but in the mind of God, the atonement was accomplished before he made and placed the first man and woman in the garden. The marvel of it all is that, knowing the cost, he made them anyway.

That’s love.

Reread Genesis 1 as the “love chapter” of the Old Testament.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Tim. 1:7)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:6-7

A Christian college student was excited about his summer job. He had signed on to work with a logging crew hundreds of miles away from home, and he told his friends in the church’s youth group that it was going to be a real adventure. At the same time, he asked them to pray for him throughout the summer. Loggers had a rough reputation, and he might be the only believer on the crew. When he returned ten weeks later, he was all smiles. “It was great!” he said. “No one ever found out that I was a Christian!”

Timothy certainly wasn’t that timid. He was a faithful man of God, a gifted minister of the gospel, and a valuable colleague of the apostle Paul. On the other hand, he was young, and Paul felt the need to encourage his protégé to lead with holy boldness. After all, God had provided a spirit of power, and not just for Timothy alone. Paul says that gift is for all of us. There’s a sermon in the pronoun—us!

When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost, the once-fearful disciples became spiritually powerful witnesses before friends and enemies alike. Why fear an earthly king when you represent the King of kings?

Hear the words so many heard in biblical days: Fear not!

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2 Tim. 1:5)

Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:3-5

Jonathan Edwards was one of the leaders of America’s First Great Awakening, a revival that swept across the colonies in the 1700s. Contrary to the popular perception that America had been a stronghold of Christianity ever since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, church attendance in Edwards’ day was no more than 15 percent of the population. God lit a spiritual fire in the church he pastored in Massachusetts, and through his faithfulness and that of other committed leaders like John Wesley’s friend George Whitefield, the young American colonies experienced a transforming revival up and down the Atlantic seaboard.

Two generations later, America needed reviving again, and once again faithful leaders stepped forward to champion the faith. One who played a major role was Timothy Dwight, president of Yale University. His stirring chapel messages sparked a revival on that campus, and students carried the flame back to their home churches. This Second Great Awakening had much in common with the first, including the fact that Timothy Dwight was Jonathan Edwards’ grandson.

In the New Testament church, Timothy benefitted from a heritage of intergenerational discipleship. Not everyone does, of course. The task for the second-, third-, or fourth-generation Christian is to keep the legacy intact. The task for the first-generation Christian is to create a new legacy.

All Christian families start with a first generation.

Make regeneration a priority for every generation of your family.

Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

I have put my hope in your word. (Ps. 119:114)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 119:113-120

The view was impressive. We were awestruck by the size of Niagara Falls. As we observed the waters cascading, we talked about what it must have been like for Nik Wallenda to cross the Niagara Falls, walking on a tightrope. We imagined him watching his steps, seeing the tumultuous waters below. We envisioned him being hit by mist and wind, while holding his balancing pole. What were his distractions? How was he able to focus?

In this section of Psalm 119, we can see the psalmist walking his own tightrope. He is aware of his surroundings. Instead of raging waters, the poet sees evildoers. They are described as double-minded, wicked, and departing from God’s law. They seem to be a distraction, but he must not put his eyes on them. Under his feet, he can feel the support. It’s the law of God. It is enough. The psalmist feels sustained, upheld, untouched by the evil that wants to make him stumble. He finds balance in God’s Word.

Some people wonder why acrobats risk so much to walk on a tightrope. Others may call into question the devotion to God expressed by people like this poet. Is it worth the risk? Only acrobats can say, “We have set foot where no one else has.” Only people like the poet can say, “We have walked with God.”

Remember with gratitude a time when God helped you in your walk.

Luigi Peñaranda is the former director of graduate programs in Spanish at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University (IN).

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.