What does the Bible say about laughter?
Laughing is an amazing gift from God. It helps you cope with sadness and everyday life. Have you ever felt mad and then someone said something to make you laugh? Even though you were upset the laughter made your heart feel better.
It’s always great to have a cheerful heart and laugh with family and friends. There’s a time to laugh and there’s a time not to.
For example, bad jokes that have no business in your Christian life, making fun of others, and when someone is going through pain.
Christian quotes about laughter
“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” Charlie Chaplin
“Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy God ever granted humanity.” Chuck Swindoll
“Life’s better when you’re laughing.”
“Laughter is poison to fear.” George R.R. Martin
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
“I have not seen anyone dying of laughter, but I know millions who are dying because they are not laughing.”
“Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called “The rejoicing of hope.”- William Gurnall
“A tear today is an investment in a laugh tomorrow.” Jack Hyles
“If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.” Martin Luther
The Bible has a lot to say about laughing and humor
1. Luke 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
2. Psalm 126:2-3 Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with joyful songs. Then the nations said, “The LORD has done spectacular things for them.” The LORD has done spectacular things for us. We are overjoyed.
3. Job 8:21 He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
4. Ecclesiastes 3:2-4 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A godly woman laughs at the days to come
5. Proverbs 31:25-26 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
A joyful heart is always good
6. Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
7. Proverbs 15:13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but with a heartache comes depression.
8. Proverbs 15:15 For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
Reminder
9. Proverbs 14:13 Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.
There’s a time not to laugh
10. Ephesians 5:3-4 But among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints. Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting–all of which are out of character–but rather thanksgiving.
11. Matthew 9:24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
12. Job 12:4 “I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God and he answered– a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!”
13. Habakkuk 1:10 At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it.
14. Ecclesiastes 7:6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
God laughs at the wicked
15. Psalm 37:12-13 The wicked plot against the godly; they snarl at them in defiance. But the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming.
16. Psalm 2:3-4 “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.” But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.
17. Proverbs 1:25-28 You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you–when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you. “When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.”
18. Psalm 59:7-8 Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths; their words cut like swords. “After all, who can hear us?” they sneer. But LORD, you laugh at them. You scoff at all the hostile nations.
Examples of laughing in the Bible
19. Genesis 21:6-7 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
20. Genesis 18:12-15 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
21. Jeremiah 33:11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, “Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever.” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the LORD.
