Laziness

THE FIGHT OF MY LIFE

For the most part, we have to fight ourselves to abstain from becoming lazy. Laziness, "unwilling to work or use energy" and "characterized by lack of effort or activity or care," can be an obstacle to pursuing our God-given talents, abilities, and calling.

I actually enjoy developing self-discipline. Not just for the sake of developing it, but, instead, because of what it produces. For example, I love lifting weights and working out. The strain, sacrifice, and hard work are not necessarily what I enjoy. However, I do enjoy a healthy body.

What has given me the most trouble in my self-discipline? Waking up in the morning. Maybe you have trouble with this too. I'm talking I struggle getting up each morning and getting out of bed like crazy. At one point in my life, I didn't know if I was capable of waking up. Sometimes, I wouldn't hear the alarm at all. I even thought that I had a disorder (Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrom)! Obviously, this was a self-diagnosis. Really it's delayed discipline disorder.

THE TRUTH

The Bible has a lot to say about laziness. In the book of Proverbs, lazy people are described as people that hate to work (Proverbs 21:25), love sleep (Proverbs 26:14), give excuses (Proverbs 26:13), and waste time and energy (Proverbs 18:9).

The book of Ecclesiastes says this: "Because of laziness the building decays, and through idleness of hands the house leaks" (Ecclesiastes 10:18). As this scripture says, with laziness we neglect maintenance and the building decays. This can also be applied to other areas of our life.
* God - neglect our relationship with God and it decays
* Marriage - neglect our relationship with our spouse and it decays
* Family - neglect our family relationships and they decay
* Finances - neglect discipline and keeping track of our finances and they decay
* Work - neglect our work and the quality, quantity, and potential decays
* Health - neglect our body and it decays

Remember today that time progresses quickly. Life is short. Discipline yourself to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, how it needs to be done. Don't allow laziness to steal your life and the good works that God has planned for you.