In our last blog we discussed the transformation from an uncommitted heart to a committed heart and the benefits of staying committed in and through life’s adventures. It wasn’t long after I decided to allow God to begin transforming my heart and attitude toward commitment that I was introduced to a process that would aid in it tremendously. This process is known as ‘driving out the mocker!’

     What in the world do you mean ‘drive out the mocker?’ And who is the ‘mocker?’ These were the first two questions I immediately posed to God. It is the one sent to you by the Enemy to cause most of the strife in your life. The mocker turns you into a fool; a person who acts unwisely. The mocker’s greatest lie is that it is protecting you, but it is leading you into isolation by causing drama and strife in your life in the name of self-protection. The mocker in us pushes everything and everyone we consider valuable in life away from us by turning simple misunderstandings into quarrels, insults, and division. It tells us we are right and everyone who disagrees with us is wrong. Dogmatism is its weapon of choice.

     I know this mocker well because I have lived with him all my life up to this point. The mocker taught me some powerful techniques to cope with potential pain and to avoid getting hurt. I call them mocker moves, or M&M’s! I had mastered such things as eye rolling, raising my voice to drown out someone else’s, sarcasm, freezing people out as they stood right in front of me, and the most pious one, Bible quoting to prove my point! All these moves were to keep myself from being seen as a fool while at the same time acting like one! That’s the dichotomy of the mocker.

     God knows the power of the mocker to destroy the lives of those it inhibits. The Bible describes the mocker as so, “The proud and arrogant person- ‘Mocker’ is his name- behaves with insolent fury.” He  has a total lack of respect for others. The mocker is incapable of love and its attributes, empathy, forgiveness, kindness, selflessness, understanding and the like. It only has the power to destroy and will show no empathy or mercy to anyone who stands in its way. This is so because the mocker operates in fear. Everyone and everything that doesn’t bow to its demands are seen as a threat that must be dealt with harshly.

     The solution to the mocker is simple but not easy; drive (cause or force) the mocker out! This won’t be an easy task, but it must be done. The mocker is stubborn and won’t go without a fight. He doesn’t like to give up territory it has occupied for a long time. But there is something more powerful than the fear-based mocker, and that’s love! Love is what drives out the mocker, ‘perfect love drives out fear!’ When we begin to understand how much God truly loves us and allow His love to enter our hearts it will force the mocker out and into retreat. Love and fear cannot coexist.

     So as soon as I was introduced to the mocker within me and realized all the damage that he  brought about in my life, I began a conscious effort to choose love over fear every time I was either confronted by someone or challenged by something. By choosing to love we drive out fear and the mocker goes with it. Proverbs 22:10 makes it clear, “Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.” Ever since I began my quest to have the mocker driven out of me, I have seen the strife in my life dissipate to a bare minimum. I’ve learned to let things go, choose my words more carefully or simply not sweat the small things. It continues to be a daily battle because we still must deal with mockers in others. Everyone has the mocker living within  but his  influence in an individual’s life varies  depending on one’s degree  of giving and receiving love. The more love a person gives and receives, the less power the mocker will have in that individual’s life.  So  choose love and watch the mocker in you flee and the  peace that surpasses all understanding  fill your soul.

Dario L. Perla