Joke's On Whom?

Do you like jokes? I do. I love to laugh. I also love to play jokes on people and I have had some pretty good ones played on me. It is wonderful to have a good sense of humor. In fact, I believe we need to have one in order to survive some situations in life. Such can be a good stress reliever. However, we do need to be careful!

Have you ever known someone who just didn't seem to know when to quit with the jokes? Or have you seen someone who appeared to lack good judgment in what was a good joke and what was not? Again -- we need to be careful! Some things have a tendency to backfire!

Have you ever experienced someone trying to seriously pull something over on you, but when you caught on they tried to get you to believe they were only joking all along?

Solomon wrote:
“(18) Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death (19) is the man who DECEIVES his neighbor and says, ‘I AM ONLY JOKING!’” ( Proverbs 26:18-19)

Some things can really hurt! What some may think is funny could possibly be very damaging. And some joking may be merely a smoke screen for deception. Let's not make that our game!

Let us be very careful. It is okay to have fun with each other, but let us use some wisdom in how we joke. May we seek to make our laughter something that can also be glorifying to God.

Have a great day ENJOYING THIS LIFE GOD GAVE US!
Carl
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[The above focus was originally sent 08/10/1998, (Edited some and passage has been changed to ESV)]

See other teEn-MAIL on Christian Behavior