Let All Evil Mockery Be Put Away From You

Let All Evil Mockery Be Put Away From You

Mockery is a remnant of evil. The opposite of mockery is: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.” V. 32.

When there is a lack of goodness, people—in the name of truth— resort to mockery and scorn. Instead of grieving for and having compassion with their poor and weak brother or his unbecoming behavior, they mock him for his defects, preferably when he is not present. This also results in insults and nicknames that indicate the weakness, or presumed weakness, from which the person is suffering, such as: “lazy bum,” or “loudmouth”; or they speak about the person’s actions in a scornful manner by saying things like, “He whines as usual.”

If we compare this to the word, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another,” (Rom. 12:10) we can get an inkling of how far away we are from the mind of Christ when we speak mockingly or scornfully about our brother in the Lord.

Exhorting, admonishing, chastening, mourning, suffering, and grieving belong to the mind of Christ, but mockery and scorn, together with contempt of your fellow brothers, belong to the pit.

May the Word, which is mighty to save, save and liberate every one of us from all such remnants of our former life.