Documents

Documents about different biblical subjects

Proverbs on Laziness

September 29th, 2011

Proverbs 18:9 - One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys

A three (3) toed sloth is one of the ugliest creatures in the world.

  • It spends most of its time hanging from a tree
  • It’s as slow as molasses in winter (ultimate example of laziness)
The sluggard is the spiritual three (3) toed sloth. The Bible has nothing good to say about the sloth.

Laziness comes in little spurts.
  • Little amounts of unproductiveness
  • Spurts of lost time adds up to a lot of lost time (time that can never be regained)
Proverbs 26:14 - “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed”

A sluggard has a difficult time getting out of bed, and loves the snooze button. It caters (snooze button) to those that can’t begin the day on time.

Proverbs 26:15 - “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth”

Here is another picturesque description of the sluggard. His is so lazy that he needs someone to spoon him his meal. This description should warn us of how disgusting laziness is to God.

Proverbs 26:16 - “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly”

One of the saddest things about a sluggard is that most of the time he doesn’t even realize how lazy he really is.
  • He looks at his unproductive day and actually believes he had no control over his lack of productivity.
  • He blames it on other things (parent’s, kids, spouse, work, weather, health, etc.)
How do I overcome being lazy (How do I become disciplined)?

1. Carpe Diem = Seize the Day

We are only given a certain amount of time in a day (and on earth)
  • The challenge of life is not that we have too little time, but in how we are going to spend the time we do have.
  • We need to make the most of every day (make a to do list to get yourself started)
2. Beware of the little things

Being disciplined is about the little things in life.
  • Anyone can have a job but do we do the little things that make us a great employee
  • Anyone can have a child but do we do the things that make us a great parent
Examples of little things to be disciplined in
  1. Punctuality
  2. Paying bills on time
  3. Sending birthday (Father’s Day, Mother’s Day cards)
  4. Picking up after yourself
  5. Keeping your room/car clean
  6. Returning phone calls
  7. Looking presentable
3. Don’t over commit
One thing that can hurt your discipline is if you over commit
  • Discipline is being able to decide what can be done and doing it the right way
  • It’s better to do three (3) things well than ten (10) things half heartedly
An important thing to do is to spend time thinking about what needs to be done and how to do it.
  • You don’t have to say “yes” to everyone and everything (our people pleasing nature will end up making us overwhelmed, stressed)
4. Worrying Won’t Work

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything”
  • Worry is an unproductive emotion (it won’t change anything)
  • Worry is like a rocking chair (gives you something to do but gets you no where)
I Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him (God) because he cares for you

Tips
  1. 1. Buy things that are useful instead of buying for status
  2. 2. Do not buy anything that is producing an addiction in you
  3. 3. Develop a characteristic of giving things away
  4. 4. Develop a deeper appreciation for God’s creation
  5. 5. Stay away from things that take your focus off of God
  6. 6..If anything comes before you having QT’S in the morning then fast from that thing (activity) until you control it instead of it controlling you.