Having a chat means different things to different people.  Some might like a “good gossip”.  It can be exciting to hear someone’s news, but we wouldn’t always want others to discuss our personal issues; passing on private information can be hurtful rather than good.

The Bible says,

   “You shall not go around as a slanderer (or talebearer)” (Leviticus 19v16)

Some people want to chat because they are lonely or have a particular problem that they are finding difficult to deal with.

In the Bible, James says,

“let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak”  (James 1v19)

The advice given is to spend more time listening to others, trying to understand their point of view or their difficulties rather than jumping in too soon with our own comments.  We could follow up the standard “how are you?” opener with “are you sure you’re OK?” and then try to really listen and understand the response.  We may make a big difference to someone’s life when we take a few minutes to pause in our busy lives and try to understand what someone is really saying.    Maybe we can then think of a practical way to help them or perhaps there aren’t any solutions to offer but just listening and offering sympathy may still be beneficial.

In the Bible, God offers a lot of practical wisdom on how to live our lives and have good relationships with others, why not open a Bible and read more?