The Beast Within us: Laziness

 

Laziness is one of the 7 beasts living within us. It is scripturally referred to as sloth. When we think of laziness we think of one who just lays around doing nothing, or at best, just being minimally active. We’ll think of laziness when we say something like “he’s too lazy to go get a job”, or “he’s too lazy to do what needs to be done around the house.” Those may be examples of laziness, but perhaps not always so. He may just have a medical condition that prevents him from working and we are unaware of it, etc.

The beast called laziness is not selective at all. It resides in all of us to one degree or another. For example;

·         Do we have spiritual apathy?

o   Is continually growing as a Christian man a priority in our lives?

o   Has being the spiritual leader of our family been abdicated to someone else or been completely dropped as a role?

·         Do we have emotional apathy?

o   Do we care more for ourselves than others?

o   Are our hearts hardened to any show of emotions?

Laziness in the above context also means that we will refuse to meet, or be careless in our obligations—especially our spiritual, moral, and legal ones. It also can corrupt our willingness to waste or not recognize our talents and gifts to further the Kingdom work. It will stunt our excitement about the role Jesus has in our lives and we can become complacent and inactive in our active spiritual activities. When that happens, we are opening the door for sin to come into our lives and fill the void.

Bottom Line Thought: Okay, maybe you might sleep in once in a while and miss church. But let’s think about real laziness—like the ones that will really affect you as a Christ follower and your relationships. Are you the spiritual leader of your family? Do you care more about yourself than others? Does your apathy affect your obligations as a man? Is there sin in your life because of your laziness?