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31 May Am I lazy?
What does laziness look like?
It can look like a yawning girl stretching out on the couch with body odour that’s more than a few days old.
Or, it could look like you and me: ordinary women who truly love God, are serving Him, but never really come into our own.
What is stopping you from being successful? One possible answer could be simply laziness. The Bible calls it slothfulness, and it is never put forward as a good thing.
Take, for example, Proverbs 15:19 – The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain. In this Scripture, slothfulness is depicted as the opposite of righteousness. Laziness is a kind of sin!
Consider also Proverbs 18:9 –
He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. Some Bible translations use the term “destroyer” for “great waster”. That means, when we are lazy, we make ourselves akin to the one who came to steal, kill and destroy!
A helpful explanation of laziness comes from Proverbs 21:25 – The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour. That’s essentially what laziness is – not willing to do the work necessary for a desired outcome!
This is profoundly applicable to business.
Take me, for example. I have a blog, a fledgling online store and I do contract advertising sales. Up to this point, I’m not established and I haven’t made any sales yet.
On the flip side, I am on the email list of a woman who has an established business, and is making money from it. It recently dawned on me how actively she sends out emails and I began to realize the folly I was in.
She is doing so much, but my need is greater and still I don’t do that! I was being lazy with promoting and marketing my business.
The lesson for us is that it takes work on both sides: to build something and to upkeep it.
Being lazy will keep us from ever attaining and fulfilling our God-given dreams and purposes. And it can also cause us to lose what’s already been built. (Ecclesiastes 10:18 – By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.)
Not only does a slothful attitude affect us in business, but even more harmful, is its effect on our spiritual lives.
How can I know I am being spiritually lazy? Well, if you can stay up for three hours watching something entertaining on tv, then find an excuse not to read the Bible, I think we have our diagnosis!
And just like in business, spiritual slothfulness will both hinder and decay our spiritual growth.
If you think you might be guilty of not putting in the labour your business and your soul’s need to grow, here is a simple prayer to pray right now:
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You are the Son off God, I confess any physical and spiritual laziness as sin. I ask your forgiveness and I renounce them. I pray for strength and vision to work as I should. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Yaneke Lewis is the owner of Blog for the Christian Damsel. As a wife and mother, she uses her experience to share thoughts, teachings and fun Bible quizzes to help young Christian women grow. When she’s not writing, she’s podcasting or making music!
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