Slothfulness

It caught my attention and caused me to think about my sinful habit of slothfulness which I have never pondered and even known explicitly before. If I am really honest; I need to admit that this is the sinful habit with which I struggle the most.

I am the kind of guy who would like to live always in a dream or fantasy world where everything comes easily. I do realize that to achieve anything in life; we have to do hard work but the more I think about it, I became more habitual of slothfulness and do nothing about it to overcome it.

It caught my mind when I was going through “The Seven Deadly Sins: Slothfulness” by Billy Graham, particularly the example of “the five foolish virgins”. I tried to analyze and compare myself with them and try to ask myself am I ready to receive Christ if He would come right now? And the answer came unsure; I wasn’t ready to receive him because of certain reasons:

1. I would love to sleep an extra thirty minutes rather than spend five or ten minutes in prayer.

2. I try to avoid Sunday worship by convincing myself being listening to one or two gospel songs and half a sermon in the afternoon.

3. I try to avoid witnessing God by convincing myself that next time I will do it.

4. To keep my determination or decision which I always make but fail soon to keep it.

Because of the above things, I always try to avoid commitments by making myself busy with unnecessary work and spending inordinate time on other activities/hobbies like watching movies, reading and pondering. Always look for shortcuts, easy ways and easy answers, giving importance to pleasure/enjoyment and trying to avoid spiritual growth. Not ready to undergo hardship. And as I have mentioned above “failing to fulfil spiritual and religious obligations, such as attending the church regularly”.

If I look at the Bible, slothfulness is contrary to perseverance or diligence. So, diligently with perseverance, I would like to go ahead with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to overcome this sinful habit of slothfulness. First of all, I will determine that I will not live in fantasy but accept reality rather than a dream world. Second, I will do my best to attend church regularly by reading scripture and devotional books so that I may not lose my interest and hope to attend it. Third, without complaining about anything I will persevere to undergo hardship. Fourth, I would choose to take responsibility and be responsible if any problem appears I will try to solve it myself with orderliness rather than depend on others to do it for me. Fifth, I will try to analyze and walk according to the godly path by setting my goal in line with scripture to move forward. Sixth, I will try to manage time by organizing myself and making use of every single opportunity. Seventh, I will not give up even though I fail or discourage to achieve my goal but strive again and again with zeal. Eight, I will prioritize God and scripture first place in my life, similarly relationships with my family, friends, and community in which I live. Ninth, most importantly I will take myself knowing that it is a temple of the Holy Spirit and try to avoid the sinful habit of slothfulness. Tenth, I complete trust and dependence on God the almighty knowing that there is nothing impossible for him and he is always there to help me to get rid of this habit.