Fools Mock

The Book of Mormon is very clear about Heavenly Father's opinion of those who mock others: "Fools mock, but they shall mourn."

We do a lot of teasing around my house, but 99% of the time it makes me feel closer to others rather than hurting and dividing us. So I started wondering tonight, what is the difference between mocking and teasing?

Here's what my husband and I came up with...

1 - Teasing chooses the subject carefully. You never tease about sensitive issues (i.e. people's looks, their family, their sincere beliefs). You only tease about inconsequential things. Mocking usually cuts straight to the heart of a person.

2 - It can only be considered teasing when you have good feelings for the person, and those feelings are show in your smile and demeanor. Bad feelings are shine through like ketchup on a white dress... there's no hiding them! So never try to tease someone you're not thrilled with, the truth will be evident to everyone.

3 - There must be some show of humility for it to be considered teasing. If you can make fun of yourself in the same breath it is much harder for someone to take offense. If you laugh often at your own foibles, people will not see your teasing as an attack.

4 - Some people simply cannot stand teasing. If someone responds poorly to an attempt to tease it MUST be followed with a show of humility and a sincere expression of friendship. Then you just have to remember that person is off limits for teasing.

To wrap this up, teasing can be a great tool for making friends and creating closeness. But far to many people mock and ridicule others and call it "teasing". They are motivated by pulling someone else down in order to elevate themselves. They may laugh and say just kidding, but their true intent shines through in their comments.

I hope I never mock anyone for any reason. My stomach literally sinks at the thought of making another child of God miserable. It's so easy to do. Sometimes words seem so harmless. But I want to commit right now to never speak ill of others again, no matter how I feel about them. If I have a problem with someone, I will discuss it with the Lord and pray to be filled with charity. After all, the most unlovable people need love most.

Courage

Our Stake President said something at girls camp this week that struck me. He said, "Courage is not something we are born with, it's not something anyone else can give us. It is something we decide to have."

There are many Christlike virtues that Heavenly Father will help us with. We are told to pray for faith, pray to be filled with charity, and pray to be made clean. These kinds of things we cannot attain on our own, we are too imperfect, too fallen to get where we need to be. We need divine intervention.

I always thought of most virtues that way: you do the best you can and Jesus Christ makes up the difference, carrying you the rest of the way. But during this talk I realized that courage is different. Courage is the true test of this life. We may be right on track with the intentions of our hearts, but without courage to act on our beliefs, it means nothing. President Evans said we have to choose to act in the face of fear again and again and again to become courageous people.

Courage is the true test of this life. It is one of the only things left solely up to us and our agency. We cannot be given courage, it is something we must practice, the muscles of our character. We only need to respond to one question, will my beliefs translate into change?