7 Deadly Sins: Laziness ?

Not the most obvious of the deadly sins - it's an odd one to include in the list.

What does the Bible mean by laziness?

It is not inactivity ?

We can be incredibly busy and still be lazy.

It is not tiredness ?

Fatigue is not being lazy - fatigue is a symptom of other, physical issues.

It is not restfulness ?

Rest is built into creation - the Sabbath and rest, in general, is needed and encouraged by the Bible. This rest, however, is still an active rest.

A working definition of laziness:

A heart with misdirected desires.

Someone who is lazy has not got God in the centre of their heart. They do not love properly.

Proverbs 6:6-11 & Proverbs 26:13-16

The Sluggard & Sloth - look to the animals ?

The proverbs draw some principle from the natural world to determine how to beat laziness.

Plan Ahead ?

The ant gets on with the job and does a job today that will not be possible tomorrow. They do not have direction or commanders yet they still get on.

Face the world ?

Those who are lazy are attached to their bed - they make excuses as to why they can't get and get on. They do not even face daily life and it's menial tasks.

People of faith must get up, open the door and face our challenges.

In the culture this is written, those who did not get up and work, they would not eat!

Don't Procrastinate ?

When dealing with hard tasks or things we don't want to do, we procrastinate. We make up work to do other than the ones we need to do.

The lesson here from the ant is to do those jobs now! To do the hard tasks first and get them done. We can easily be passive about important things in life. We are selective sloths. We choose what we care about and work hard at. We need to be committed more to the crucial, important things in life. It is good to identify what things are important and make sure they are attended to before others. Be the person today that you say "one day I'll...".

Be a worker ?‍♀️

We are to be workers like God, the ultimate worker.

We work in the world, in our families, at our jobs. We develop the skills and gifts God has given us.

But beware - work can be an idol. Work hard not for yourself or your pride or your benefit. Work for the God who works in order that you can enjoy work. Our identity is not in our productivity, it is in our saviour.

What Jesus says: Matthew 6:25-27

Jesus says that a symptom of a misdirected heart is a concern for things that are out of their control. We are never content with the things we work for. If we live like that we are wasting our life. Those things we worry about do still matter, it's just they don't matter as much as we think they do! "Don't worry" says Jesus.

The slothful person is not necessarily lazy, but put their energy and efforts into the wrong things.

What really matters?

Jesus is very clear: work for the kingdom of God and His glory. That is our primary aim on this earth. Everything else can be taken care of by God. Anything else is a waste of our life.

Slothfulness is laziness towards the kingdom work. We don't care about putting our effort into heavenly works. Our hearts are misdirected away from the glorious riches of working for God.

How do we avoid soul laziness?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:10 that work is grace. As we work for the kingdom, God is working - not us. Therefore working for the kingdom is an act of grace from God that He allows us to work with Him in us. It is by His grace that we are God's hands on earth.

Paul also says in Galatians and Romans that we must not become weary of doing God's work. Else we become indifferent to God and His people. We no longer love like we should.

We have to fight the battle between our sinful nature and our new divine nature. The Holy Spirit is our weapon against laziness and a misdirected heart. The Holy Spirit equips us to point our heart to God and to work for His glory.