You Don't Say?!

Revelation: sarcasm is in no way helpful to the receiver. And—truth be told—it really isn’t helpful to the one delivering it … not in the long run.

You may have already known this, but it’s a relatively recent revelation for me (Aimee). And it has been life altering.

My family has, without question, been the largest receivers of my overflowing sarcasm for … well … all my life. Sarcasm has been more than a second language to me. It’s been a native tongue. I’ve spoken it without hesitation time and time again. It has flowed very naturally. And, yes, there has been many a time when I’ve been aware of the fact that it flows quite naturally with most of my family, but that isn’t an excuse.

 

I found myself thinking of passages like Philippians 4:8,

“… brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Does sarcasm fit in there? Uh … nope. It may be true at times, but that’s it.

 

Or perhaps, to grab a few phrases from the “love passage,” 1 Corinthians 13:4a and 5a says,

Love is patient, love is kind … It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered …

So, love is clearly not sarcastic. In fact, it just might be the opposite.

Since I became fully aware of the totally and completely unhelpful nature of sarcasm I have been putting great effort (and lots of prayer) into attempting to break this very bad habit. I’ve been equally surprised to discover that the answer has often been to simply keep my mouth shut. Instead of trying to be witty, but really being rude or hurtful, I’ve thought about my words before I speak them (I know … who’d have thought that that  would be a good idea, right?!). I’ve been a better listener rather than running off in my head with my inner sarcastic monologue, and it’s changing my attitude.

I’m fighting less with my family. Much less, in fact. It isn’t as if fights were happening every day, and when they did, they generally didn’t last long, but that was because we were making through with tough skins, rolling things off our shoulders … but that’s really not how family should be with each other. OK, it’s not how any people should be with each other.

So, I’ve chosen the alternative to sarcasm … being considerate. I’m not always successful, but it’s getting easier. And it’s definitely making a difference.

What about you? Is sarcasm your native language?

If so, I encourage you to turn to your heavenly Father for help in breaking this destructive habit. Then come back here and share with us how your life is changing for the better. Cause I guarantee it will.