How Humor Is Good For Relationships Series

How Humor is Good For Relationships

Part 5 of 6 in the series, “When Relationships Disappoint You, How to Find God’s Peace in the Pain.”

We’re in this series on relationships and the title of today’s message is “How Humor is Good for Relationships.” I really ought to have entitled this message, “How Humor is ESSENTIAL for Relationships.”

Today on Mother’s Day we’ve already laughed a little bit. We intentionally included a humorous skit in the worship gathering because parents, of all people, had better learn how to laugh. If you don’t you’ll pop a cork.

You need humor in all of your relationships. In your marriage, if you don’t laugh together you’re missing out on an entire galaxy of fun. Laughing with others is an integral part of healthy friendships. It’s one of the keys to successful relationships on the job. Members of the same church family need to laugh together. Sometimes it gets stressful trying to accomplish God’s purposes in a world not tuned in to God’s wavelength.

Since we’ve had the video of the children and the skit and time is therefore at a premium, I’m going to get straight to the point on how humor is essential for good relationships.

Our information on this subject comes from God’s Word. Here’s what the greatest sourcebook on relationships ever written says about humor in relationships.

THREE BIBLICAL STRATEGIES TO INJECT HUMOR INTO YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.

LOOK FOR LAUGHTER.

Sometimes laughter just happens.

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven…A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 (NLT)

The wise soul will look for that "time to laugh."

Laughter is not wrong for Christ followers. We’ve talked about this before here at Pathway. No matter what you may have heard, it’s okay for Christians to have a good time. Jesus was criticized by His enemies for partying with sinners. He believed it was okay to celebrate at weddings, to enjoy the hospitality of His friends, etc.

There will be those who will criticize you for enjoying life as a follower of Christ – but there will also be those who will find your laughter contagious.

When the Jews came back from captivity in Babylon here’s what they said.

"Then we were filled with laughter, and we sang happy songs. Then the other nations said, ’The Lord has done great things for them.’" Psalms 126:2 (NCV)

Laughter and joyfulness and singing are a good witness to those who have yet to find a personal relationship with God. Being critical and grumpy aren’t qualities that make people want what you have.

I try not to shop where they have frowning sales clerks. If I’m picking out a cashier I often look for the one that is smiling. I’ve read studies where the same thing is said of churches. People won’t come back to a church where everybody was dour and long-faced. Who can blame them?

It’s okay to laugh. Laughing is good for us. It’s even okay to laugh in church. These words of wisdom from the Bible are simply reminding us to have proper timing.

The culture around us doesn’t get it. They often laugh at the wrong things at the wrong times. Nothing is sacred among people who don’t live by this Scriptural principle of properly timing your laughter.

I’m not suggesting that to have good relationships you need to laugh at the wrong times. I’m suggesting on the basis of Scripture that you need to learn to look for the right times to laugh. God has given you this capacity for enjoying good humor so you need to intentionally incorporate laughing into your daily routine.

Read the comics in the newspaper if that tickles your funny bone. Or watch a comedic TV show or movie. Get together and laugh with family & friends.

Deb and I schedule regular “date nights” that are especially set aside as time when we enjoy laughter and lifting each other’s spirits. It helps our marriage relationship. We celebrate our 30th Anniversary tomorrow and one of the things that has helped us survive the stress of a ministry marriage is laughter. We’ve had plenty to cry about. And sure we’ve cried together. But our laughing together has lightened a lot of heavy loads.

We’ve learned that we have to set aside time to laugh. Humor is good for our relationship. We laughed with our kids while they were growing up. I think that’s one of the many reasons all three of our children turned out to be pretty good adults. We laughed loud and proud. It wasn’t uncommon when our family was dining out that our table would be the table with the loudest laughter. We enjoyed having a good time. Perhaps we shouldn’t have made such a spectacle of ourselves but we couldn’t help it. We enjoyed being together and laughing and having a good time together.