Don’t you just enjoy a great laugh? I’m not talking about a simple smile or chuckle, although they add so much to life as well, but a deep, solid, soul piercing laugh that permeates your whole being. It just seems to make everything better for a while. Pain tends to subside-both emotional and physical, energy levels improve, and even our outlook on the world seems brighter, if even if for just awhile. Have you ever wondered why this is or why we even laugh at all? Laughing and crying are uniquely human experiences. No other animals truly meet the criteria of laughter or full weeping or crying although many higher primates such as chimpanzees may mimic this behavior. God chose to bestow the wonderful experience of laughter on His most precious part of creation, His children which many call humanity. Why did He do this? Is it part of His nature? Is it necessary to meet our earthly needs or does it meet the needs of others?
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Although we are instructed by God not to judge others such as trying to determine the absolute motives in someone’s heart or if they are committing sin in secret, this is an instruction given to individual believers rather than to nations. I have heard it taught that we are to be “fruit inspectors” rather than judges, and I believe that is about right meaning we are to be more concerned with the actions, lifestyles, and ministries of individuals rather than what they have to say. However, the rights, responsibilities, and requirements of the nations or governments are very different according to the Holy Scriptures. God gives governments the authority to wage war for the defense of its citizens. His Scriptures allow for the option for governments to use the death penalty in administering justice, and in scripture we see the role of judges clarified.
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