by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
A sense of humor is a gift from God. Some take themselves and others far too seriously, so much that they cannot laugh at themselves or enjoy a good chuckle at life’s awkward moments. There is a “time to laugh<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 3:4), and “A joyful heart is good medicine<\/em>” (Proverbs 17:22). Tensions can be eased, spirits lifted, and moments of pain alleviated through a good laugh. While no one likes to be “laughed at,” we cannot take ourselves so seriously that we fail to see any humor.<\/p>\n On the flip side are those with little to no sense of the serious. Too much laughter can indeed be madness (Ecclesiastes 2:2), and those who cannot stop joking about everything are foolish (Proverbs 29:9; Ecclesiastes 7:5-6). When the time has come to be serious, we need to be able to refrain from the jokes.<\/p>\n Once again, balance is a key factor in how we approach life. Enjoy a good laugh, but also take serious things seriously.<\/p>\n I believe the Lord had a sense of humor. If you don’t think so, picture that big log hanging out of your eye while trying to pick a speck of dust from another’s. Humor can teach us important lessons.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer A sense of humor is a gift from God. Some take themselves and others far too seriously, so much that they cannot laugh at themselves or enjoy a good chuckle at life’s awkward moments. There is a “time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4), and “A joyful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). Tensions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[706,707,1680],"class_list":["post-67755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-humor","tag-jokes","tag-serious"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15859,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-dark-humor-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":67755,"position":0},"title":"Is dark humor sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is all dark humor a sin? Answer: Dark humor refers to making something that is shocking, morbid, or disgusting into a joke. A part of its appeal is the strength of the conflicting emotions that it brings about. The problem is that it treats serious subjects as if they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18777,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-correct-a-preacher-when-there-are-no-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":67755,"position":1},"title":"How do you correct a preacher when there are no elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, The question I have is this: What should a person do in this situation? In the church I currently attend, we do not have any elders for several years. I see some things that are creeping into the church. For example, when my congregation had elders the preacher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-the-definitions-of-foolish-talk-and-coarse-jesting\/","url_meta":{"origin":67755,"position":2},"title":"What are the definitions of “foolish talk” and “coarse jesting?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Ephesians 5:4 says that \"neither ... foolish talking nor jesting\" ought to be found among the saints.\u00a0 However, I have had difficulty coming to the precise meanings of these words, or maybe I am afraid to.\u00a0 I see\u00a0on your web site\u00a0that you, and most others, define \"foolish talking\" as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56165,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faithful-wounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":67755,"position":3},"title":"Faithful Wounds","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"Faithful are the wounds of a friend ...\" (Proverbs 27:6). I enjoy being in the company of insightful people with a lighthearted sense of humor. Who doesn't like a jovial conversation just for the sake of having a few laughs? I also like serious discussions about current\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32388,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-pranks-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":67755,"position":4},"title":"Are pranks sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I just wanted to ask whether pranks are a sin. I'm aware of the passage in Proverbs 26:19 where it states we shouldn't lie and then say we are joking. Does that mean all pranks are sinful? Thank you very much. Answer: \"Like a madman who throws firebrands,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41076,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-tell-jokes\/","url_meta":{"origin":67755,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to tell jokes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please, I want to know the difference between jesting and comedy. Is being a comedian godly? Answer: Humor is an important part of communication. There is nothing wrong with telling jokes, so long as they are appropriate. You would not make a joke that implied you would (or did)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67755\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}