What’s Brewing In Your Heart? Lesson Three | Sloth

What is sloth and how does it affect your life?

Definition of sloth:
1 a: disinclination to action or labor
b: spiritual apathy and inactivity

Similar Words:

Laziness, Idleness, Indolence, Inactivity, Inertia

Examples of Sloth:

• The inability to bring to completion what you have started due to lack of motivation or purpose.
• The refusal and rejection of God’s design for human life and the life of a follower of Christ.
• The refusal and rejection of God’s plan for your life.
• Someone who may not help around the home, work, or in other areas where help may be needed.
• Including these phrases in our life: “I’m too busy”, “I’m tired”, and “I don’t want to”.
• Finding excuses to not complete our work or delay your work.
• Neglecting our prayer life, participation in church, Bible study, and active tasks that have Kingdom-minded results.
• Partaking in activities that do not promote you toward your calling or benefiting the Kingdom of God. For example: Binge watching Netflix or scrolling Facebook for far too long.
• When you plan an escape from your relational, financial, work and emotional problems instead of solving the problems you may have. For example: You may decide to change your job or get a divorce because you are looking for something better.

Bible verses regarding the sin of sloth:

Proverbs 12:24 – The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.
Proverbs: 13:4 – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 15:19 – The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.
Proverbs 19:15 – Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.
Proverbs 21:25-26 – The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
Hebrews 6:12 – We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Hebrews 10:24 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Colossians 3:23 – Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
Mathew 25:26 – But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?
Romans 12:11 – Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Take Away

Sloth is a sneaky sin that slowly creeps into your life without you recognizing the immediate harm this sin can cause to your daily life and relationships. Being under the control of sloth gets us to do things based on the way feel rather than doing tasks because we need to, cultivating a relationship, or obey God. We were made to be in relationship with God and to pursue Him with all things. Before the fall, He gave us the dominion over the earth to subdue it. Work existed before the fall and it was created because it is good for us.
In society, we have created an idol out of freedom, and we have neglected the calling God has on our lives. However, this quickly comes to an end when we find ourselves consumed with the freedoms we chose to do over and over with our time.

When we become consumed with everything and anything but God, we lose ourselves in the process. We forget to discover what God called us to do and who He created us to be. Sloth is the rejection of your God given purpose. He placed you in a position to work at your job, to be a student, He called you to be the parent to your children, and He called you to be the husband or wife to your spouse. He placed people in your life for you to cultivate relationships with them.

If you find yourself unsure of what to do and without peace, then I encourage you to seek God and keep seeking Him as long as it takes. If you find yourself, just “killing time” for the sake of doing something, then pick up your Holy Bible and engage in God’s word. To overcome sloth, you must cultivate your humanity and you must do so by first seeking God.

When you seek God, He begins to remind you of the sacrifice He made for you, He reminds you of who you are in Christ, and He begins to change your heart and desires to beat with the desires He has for you. When you make a choice over and over, you become that kind of person. Your character is formed by experiencing the demands and even heartaches of life. That why it’s important to always be making the right choices so that we do not become stagnant in our faith journey.

It’s important to remember not to be consumed with freedoms or consumed with always working because creativity and vision happens in downtime. We must be good stewards of our time and direct the time we have wisely and for God’s glory. When we do this, we can ensure that we can reach our potential and live out the purpose God has called us to.

Heavenly Father,

I acknowledge the areas in my life that I have allowed sloth to enter into my life. I ask that through your power, you show me what choices you would have me make so I may glorify you and live out the purpose you have for my life to the fullest. Thank you for knitting in my mother’s womb and setting me apart for a specific work. Give me the strength to work with diligence and joy for You. Show me the areas in my life that I need to change and give me the courage to step out do it without delay.

Questions to Ponder and Life Application Thoughts:

1. If you find yourself too busy, consider everything you have to do and do away with certain activities that do not produce good fruits of the spirit or bring glory to God’s kingdom.

a. In what ways can you reprioritize your to-do’s?

b. How much time do you spend mindlessly scrolling social media or binge-watching Netflix?

c. Take inventory of your time and see where it goes! With the time you discover you have, use that time to continuously seek God during those times!

2. What habits do you continuously do over and over that need to be addressed?

3. Has God revealed any area of your life where sloth may have entered?

4. If you need a vision or a place to start, then ask God to reveal it to you in a way that you will understand and be motivated to work toward the call He has created for you.

5. If you are stagnant in your faith journey and the places God has placed you, then make decisions over and over that will cultivate your character and propel you further into your calling.