Chuck Swindoll asks,
How is your sense of humour? Are the times in which we live beginning to be reflected in your attitude, your face, your outlook? Solomon…says three things will occur when we have lost our sense of humour: a broken spirit, a lack of inner healing, and dried-up bones (Proverbs 15:13, 15; 17:22). What a barren portrait!…Humour is not a sin. It is a God-given escape hatch…a safety valve. Being able to see the lighter side of life is a rare, vital virtue.1
A refreshing sense of humour is never distasteful, ill-timed, or tactless. Instead, it lightens our spirits and energizes our thoughts. It helps us step back and not take this fleeting life quite so seriously.
“Three tests of good humour: Can you laugh at your own mistakes? Can you restrain when it isn't fitting? Can you enjoy it all alone?”2 If you can't yet answer yes to these questions, we invite you to enjoy our resources on humour. You may feel your strained muscles relax as your troubled thoughts are chased away by good old-fashioned laughter.
1. Charles R. Swindoll, The Finishing Touch: Becoming God's Masterpiece (Dallas: Word, 1994), 220.
2. Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll's Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 283.
Some days you just can’t win. You feel distant from your kids when you want to be close and no matter how hard you try you fear you’re only passing bad traits—instead of the good ones. Sometimes the lyrics of a song express accurately the attitudes of the heart better than anything else.
For all you parents worrying about your kids at summer camp, take heart—this letter is fictitious. But sometimes we’re not unlike Scoutmaster Walt—when we don’t follow God’s instruction manual we lose our way.
Miscommunication can lead to misunderstanding. This is especially true when what is being communicated winds up in the hearing of the wrong person.
There isn’t a day that passes in which I fail to see, hear, or read something that makes me smile. And because laughter is such an effective therapy, I’m grateful that God dispenses this divine medication so frequently.
Every day we’re bombarded with bad news and we miss the uplifting message of life. But it is possible to have a joyful and enthusiastic attitude in spite of circumstances.
Nothing new is ever like it was. If you’re going through some difficult changes, keeping your sense of humour is critical.
Nurturing a marriage takes time. And it takes work. When you're committed to your marriage you leave a legacy of faithfulness, honour, and integrity.
Those who try to follow Jesus’ example, without His strength, find their lives to be hypocritical and frustrating. What is needed in following Christ is balance.
Centuries ago, God directed Paul to write a letter of exuberant joy—a letter that transcends time and culture.
I’ve learned you don’t need to be happy all the time—or even have a great sense of humour—to receive the benefits of laughter.
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