In an age where crude humor is the language of the culture, learn how to rejoice in the truth with a pure-hearted conscience before the Lord with this week’s episode. Leslie shares how to cultivate a holy sense of humor and offers solutions on how to provide a gracious response towards inappropriate or crass comments that come your way. What joy to know that our Lord cares about these small areas of life and has left us with principles in His Word to guide in how to heartily laugh over that which is true, noble, and just!
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Key Scriptures
Philippians 4:8
Ephesians 4:29
1 Corinthians 13:6
Podcast Summary
The subtle ways in which crude humor is seeping into our culture and homes today are somewhat shocking. The idea of being honorable, gracious, and godly in our conversations and interactions with others is practically extinct. Still that does not give us, as set apart women, license to go with the flow of the world and partake in perverted jokes or things that are debased. God’s Word speaks directly into the subject of how to turn the tide of our conversations, lifestyles, and ways of showing honor – even in our own homes – that we can begin walking in today.
While a guarded sense of humor and a trained tongue are definitely the exception and not the rule in this day and age, crudeness is often hereditary and is passed down from generation to the next as part of our lifestyle or personality.
It’s important to ask the following question to gauge how you are interacting with worldly humor: Is my behavior reflecting the way that God has asked me to live?
It’s fascinating to know that God’s Word provides a pattern for how we are to bring glory to God in this area of our lives – in how we are to live, what we are to say, and what we are to laugh at.
We cannot develop the mind of Christ when it is being filled with the carnal pleasures of this world. I would encourage you to use the list of virtues in Philippians 4:8 (whatever is true, noble, just, etc.) and measure that list up to the jokes that are being told and received in your presence as well as your conversations around those you consider your inner circle of friends. Ephesians 4:29 reminds us that a crude, coarse, or silly words shouldn’t escape the lips of those who love the Lord Jesus, which means that all of our speech should communicate something edifying to those we are sharing with. Lastly, 1 Corinthians 13:6 tells us that love does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices in truth. If we are taking pleasure in activities that glorify unrighteousness, we are not rejoicing in truth, but in the things of this world.
It is a fact that when we take pleasure in base forms of interaction, communication, banter, and humor, it leads to a degeneration of honor in our lives and homes. What is honor, you ask? Simply put, honor is living with heavenly nobility; speaking and acting in a way that reflects the behavior of God rather than the coarseness of the world (see 1 Timothy 4:4-7). In order to build a Christ-Centered lifestyle we need to cultivate a holy sense of humor.
Practicals for Developing a Holy Sense of Humor
1. Laugh Honorably
Since God created both laughter and honor, then there is a way for us to carry both of these qualities together with respect and enjoyment. Do so by beginning to appreciate the blessings and funny things that happen to us in the everyday. Center your conversation around the gift that God has brought into life – be it a humorous story or a genuine expression of your praise and gratitude.
This is especially important to carry forward in our own homes as it is tempting an easy to let down our guard in these environments. Be watchful for coarseness and crude comments to slip into your every day conversations with those you know best and spend a lo too time with. Our homes are to be the place where we are the most purposeful for what we say and how we say it. Even if you are single or living alone, how you carry yourself in the unseen moments are a good test to gauge where your spiritual life is at. If crude humor has previously been a pattern in your life, then ask God to retrain you in this area. It is a prayer He would delight to answer!
2. Cultivate Honorable Habits
This list is a quick but helpful overview of ways you can practically incorporate honor into your everyday actions.
- Speak words that are edifying
- Don’t put each other down, talk freely about others’ faults
- Be quick to ask forgiveness
- Listen when the other person is talking
- Encourage one another
- Don’t allow sloppiness and crudeness in your daily behavior patterns
- Protecting one another’s dignity and privacy
As you begin to implement these simple tips into your everyday lifestyle, your current or future families will be blessed recipients of your honorable behavior and will begin to be impacted by it and implement it into their own lives.
3. Refuse to Laugh at Crude Humor
We must remember that if crudeness is not given a stage, it will often fade away on its own. Refuse to give crude humor and/or comments a listening ear or warm reception as there’s no reason why you should feel obligated to laugh when a remark is in direct contrast to what God has called us to do.
If a less-than-godly comment is shared in our presence, there is still a way to show respect for that individual, even if they are behaving improperly. Choose to be graciously silent but still loving towards that person and trust that the Spirit of God can convict them and show them how to honor Him in this area of their lives. In the face of crude behavior, begin to pray diligently for that person and walk in Christlike, loving behavior — it is the most effective statement you can make.
Final Thoughts
When we walk in the joy of the Lord, we will no longer be drawn to lesser, counterfeit forms of laughter that are rooted in crudeness. Jesus Christ desires that our lives become reflections of His honor that possess a genuine holy sense of humor and rejoice only in whatever things are true, noble, and just!
Recommended Resources
- Visit our website SetApartGirl.com for daily encouragement, resources, articles, and more that will help you life a lifestyle of honor!
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