A Heart Condition ~ Proverbs 14:13

excerpt from Proverbs 14:1-14 (old series)
How to Build a Proper Foundation in Life ~ Part 1

Verse 13, another important verse.  Even in laughter the heart may be grieved, and the end of mirth, which is merriment, party, be grief, could be grief.

Now there is a teaching today that comes from Proverbs chapter 17 verse 22. It says, A merry heart does good like a medicine. And so people say that if you are ever discouraged or depressed, just start laughing.  That laughter is actually a medicine and it will cure your depression, and make you feel better, and pull you out of it.  It is a medicine that God has given.  There are actually churches today that teach and practice laughing.  It is a time in their service – you know how we have singing, and we have announcements, and we have time in the word – well they take about fifteen minutes out of the service and laugh.  It is a medicine they say that is from God.

Now what is interesting here is in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 13 it says, Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and the end of mirth could be grief.  So Proverbs chapter 17 verse 22 when it says, A merry heart does good like a medicine, it is talking about the condition of the heart.  When your heart is right, that is what acts as a medicine for your life.  Laughter is not a medicine for the heart.  The heart and the condition of the heart is the medicine for the soul or for the life.  It is in reverse.

And if you look at the teachings, it is not saying that laughter is what changes the heart.  It says, the heart is what changes the life.  It is working from inside out.

And so in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 13 it says you can laugh all you want to, but if your heart is sorrowful it is not to change your sorrow any.  Even in mirth, even in celebration, even in times of happiness, you heart still could be in grief.  It is not going to change your heart any.  It will cover-up the sorrow and it will cover-up the grief, but it is not going to change your heart.

The writer of Proverbs put it in perspective. He is not saying that if you laugh it is going to change your heart. It says the condition of the heart is what makes the medicine for your life. If your heart is right with the Lord, you are going to have a healthy life. It is not so much free of disease – but stress and turmoil and the anxieties of life, which wear on the physical body. If our heart is right with Him we remove the burden and pressure that it puts on a life that is already under stress just by living. Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and the end of mirth, grief. You can try it as a remedy if you want, but the heart stays the same. It does not change the heart any at all, so do not fall into the trap.