We see a picture of people trading with each other, selling things to each other, hiring each other's services. And one thing is quite clear, that in these old time communities people got to know each other, and very well.
It is truth that God looks for and this may cost us. We may lose friends because we will not lie for them; we may lose promotion because we are not willing to cut corners; we may not be able to avoid punishment for offences because we must confess them; we may suffer persecution because we will not deny Christ. It is the tongue that is said to be judged because the tongue eagerly steps forward to represent the whole man. All that is false will pass away, for the lie is only possible now because of the temporary licence that God has given to the darkness. How will it endure in the presence of him who has eyes as a flame of fire? To lie is to prefer darkness to light, but that puts us on the side of God’s enemies. The liar has been altered by his lie and he cannot undo the damage. No one who loves a lie can be one of God’s children, for his children all have a love of truth in their hearts. Therefore they belong to the light and as God endures for all eternity, so their lips and their whole being will endure forever.
We want our words to count, for months and years to come, people to be grateful for them, not so much grateful to us, but for the truths that they taught them, the deep things and the benefits that they communicate. So yes, let us be humorous; there is nothing against that. Sometimes, quite effervescent speech is cheering, but let us remember that if that consumes us, and it can do, then we have lost the ministry of words to others.