Laziness

  There are numerous verses in the Bible, especially in Proverbs, about the sinfulness of laziness.  It is easy to see that God does not want us to be lazy, that laziness is sin.  Laziness is a hard thing for me.  Where does it stem from?  Yes, my flesh and my sin nature, but it is often more complex than that.  My biggest trouble is that I see things that need to be done but get overwhelmed because of how many things there are to do, or the magnitude or difficulty of the job, or the many unknowns in how to do the job, or the fact that, even if I do the job well, it will need to be done again the next day.  These feelings of being overwhelmed seem to “shut down” my system.  Sometimes, I struggle because I’m just waiting for someone to tell me what to do.  I am almost positive that this stems from growing up in the shadows of American education.  Teachers are there to tell you what to think and when to think it and what to do and when to do it.  Other times, there is just so much going on around me that making myself concentrate on what needs to be done is a lot of effort in itself.  I have read Bible verses to help me.  Verses like Ephesians 5:15-16, which says, “Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  

Or Proverbs 6:6-11:

Go to the ant, O sluggard,

Observe her ways and be wise,

  Which, having no chief,

Officer or ruler,

Prepares her food in the summer

And gathers her provision in the harvest.

How long will you lie down, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

“A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest”—

Your poverty will come in like a vagabond

And your want like an armed man.

Notice that these verses have action verbs - “look”, “observe”.  We have to actively watch ourselves.  This is the trouble with all sin.  It takes effort to resist sin.  We seem to think that sin is no big deal and that, once we are saved, it is no longer a problem at all for us, that it will be easy for us to do the right thing.  That is just not true.  Sanctification is something that takes our entire lives on this earth.  Genesis 4:7b says, “And if you do not do well, sin is lying at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”  This means we have to actively resist sin.  We have to work at doing the right thing.  So I have to work at overcoming my overwhelmed feelings and whatever else is leading to the laziness that I have to resist.  Laziness, like most sin, seems to get easier and easier to give in to.  My big struggles started the first time I allowed myself to get lost in a book when I should have been doing something else.  Now, getting lost in that book is an easy go to when I feel overwhelmed.  Recognizing this laziness as sin has been the first step in really starting to deal with it.  Just acknowledging that laziness is sin and that I am by nature lazy has helped me to begin to look for triggers and avoid them.  But this takes work, which means that, for a person who struggles with laziness like I do, the battle is extra tough.  But God always gives us an escape with every temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).  So, we press on and keep working as He works in us (Philippians 2:12-13, 3:12-14).