If You’re After Laughter . . .

Daily writing promptWhat makes you laugh?View all responses

Laughter comes in many forms from various sources. It can come as pride, mockery, manipulation, anxiety, insecurity, drunkenness, or even vulgarity. Laughter can also come as innocence, happiness, sincerity, kindness, wholesome pleasure, delight, and spontaneity. Pure, blameless laughter that overflows from a heart full of love, joy, and peace releases and spreads inner healing. The innocent laughter that comes from small children radiates wellbeing and gratitude. That’s the kind of laughter I’m after — pure laughter from a pure heart.

Tiny children laugh a lot. They often laugh spontaneously without needing to be prompted by a funny thing or by a comical person. Their laughter isn’t just produced by outward humorous situations. It freely and joyously flows from within them. However, something happens as tiny children grow a little older. They begin to monitor themselves and tone down their laughter to blend in with the older kids and adults that surround them. Little by little they forget how to let inner joy flow from within their heart with jubilant laughter. They eventually turn into adults who feel like they can’t laugh unless a joke, a party, a bottle, or a comedy club loosens them up. It’s never too late to recover hilariously healing heart-felt laughter that rings out from deep within your soul.

I once saw an incredible example of the life-transforming power of laughter. I was in a conversation with three other men who I had just met in a secular setting. For some reason I said something about Jesus to one of the guys and in an instant, he was overcome with intense cleansing laughter. He couldn’t stop the healing hilarity from washing through him. With tears running down his cheeks he rushed into the hallway and closed the door. For several minutes we could hear him outside heaving with hearty laughter. All three of us were stunned by what we were witnessing. When he finally came back into the room, he radiated an amazing sense of peace and calm. His whole attitude and demeanor had changed. When I saw that man again a year and a half later, he came up and hugged me. At first, I had trouble recognizing him. Healing laughter had done something amazing and long-lasting in him.

When I encountered Jesus and surrender my life completely to Him spontaneous joy and laughter was restored to me. I began to see the bright and joyous aspects of life. My mental and emotional heaviness fell away. I started to spontaneously smile and laugh and enjoy being alive. However, the more I experienced and embraced the spontaneity and joy of the Lord, the less I seemed to be compatible with the religious system that kept trying to make me fit into rigid patterns and traditions.

I learned several things:

Religion can ease your conscience, but Jesus can forgive you, set you free from sin, and empower you to live a pure life.Religion can teach you to say prayers, but Jesus can teach you to pray from your heart.Religion can train you to be satisfied with a comfortable church service once a week, but Jesus can train you to overflow with the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit both day and night.Religion can train you to passively let someone explain the Bible to you, but Jesus can train you to devour, absorb, and savor the Bible so that it burns in your heart.Reading the Bible every day with an open humble heart (and doing what it says) will impact your life in a far more powerful way than merely attending church every week.Religion can make you dependent on a pastor and an institution. Jesus can train you to continually trust in, rely on, and depend on His presence, power, and love.If you listen to routine, unenthusiastic speakers give analytical lectures about the most exciting book in the world (and never let you or anyone else make a single comment about it), they will bore you with it. No wonder so many people falsely believe that the Bible is a boring book, and so few Christians excitedly read it every day.Religion can try to convince you that you are right with God, but Christ living in and directing you will guarantee that you are.Religion can train you to hear sermons, but Jesus can train you hear Him directly speaking within you.Religion can train you to go to church, but Jesus can train you to follow and obey Him throughout each day.[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://hopethoughts.com/wp-content/u..." data-large-file="https://hopethoughts.com/wp-content/u..." src="https://hopethoughts.com/wp-content/u..." alt="" class="wp-image-43020" />Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com