As Americans, we pride ourselves on

As Americans, we pride ourselves on being hard workers. We are so busy, and we often brag to each other about how busy we are. It is a status symbol. To admit that you are not busy, or to confess sloth, is anathema.

But, we are actually quite lazy many times. I heard Chip Ingram define laziness once as not doing what you should be doing at the time. Proverbs 20:4 bears this out. Thus, just because you got 150 emails answered doesn’t mean you aren’t lazy. It only means you weren’t being lazy if you should have been doing that at that moment.

Further, as Americans, we are addicted to entertainment and leisure. Entertainment and leisure are not necessarily evil. There is a time to rest, etc. However, the amount of time that most Americans dedicate to entertainment and leisure rises to the level of idolatry. I think many, if not most, Americans view work and everything else in their lives as what they have to do to get to entertainment and leisure. “How long until I can lay down on the couch and watch TV [or browse the Internet or post on Facebook or whatever other leisure activity you might want to insert here]?” is an overriding question for many people I believe.

I taught on this in Marriage Builders last Sunday in the context of how laziness interferes with the ability of the husband to lead the family. I agree with Doug Wilson that laziness is a sin to which men and boys are naturally prone. Therefore, if we hope to lead our wives and families, we as men must constantly combat the sin of laziness.

To help us do that, I used a number of passages from the book of Proverbs to demonstrate how the Bible portrays laziness or sloth. For example, laziness is infuriating (Prov. 10:26), obvious (Prov. 24:30-34), and shameful (Prov. 10:4-5). It also makes excuses (Prov. 22:13) and demonstrates an idiotic lack of task completion (Prov. 12:27 & 19:24). Further, it love frivolity (Prov. 28:19), is never satisfied (Prov. 13:4 & 21:25-26), prevents real rest (Prov. 19:15 & 26:13-16), is a harder way to live (Prov. 15:19), is wise in its own eyes (Prov. 26:16), and leads to want and misery (Prov. 6:6-11, 13:4, 19:15, 20:4, 21:25-26, 24:30-34, 28:19).

Not a pretty picture! Sometimes it is helpful to see sin for what it is. Once we see it in all its folly and filthiness, it is often easier to resist it. Thus, the presentation of the picture above.

Last week I ran out of time in presenting some solutions. So, this week in Marriage Builders, I am going to discuss some of the solutions to laziness and sloth. I will give some practical ideas of how to combat this sin, and, hopefully, that will help us to lead the families that God has given us.

The following is a list of some verses from the Bible on laziness. They are in the English Standard Version.

Results (Indonesian) 1:

Sebagai orang Amerika, kami bangga menjadi pekerja keras. Kami sangat sibuk, dan kita sering menyombongkan diri satu sama lain tentang bagaimana sibuk kita. Ini adalah simbol status. Mengakui bahwa Anda sedang tidak sibuk, atau mengakui kemalasan, adalah kutukan.Namun, kita benar-benar cukup malas berkali-kali. Aku mendengar Chip Ingram mendefinisikan kemalasan sekali sebagai tidak melakukan apa yang seharusnya Anda lakukan saat itu. Amsal 20:4 beruang ini. Dengan demikian, hanya karena Anda mendapat 150 email dijawab tidak berarti Anda tidak malas. Itu hanya berarti Anda tidak menjadi malas jika Anda harus telah melakukan yang pada saat itu.Selanjutnya, sebagai orang Amerika, kami kecanduan hiburan dan rekreasi. Hiburan dan rekreasi yang tidak selalu jahat. Ada waktu untuk istirahat, dll. Namun, jumlah waktu yang kebanyakan orang Amerika mendedikasikan untuk hiburan dan rekreasi naik ke tingkat penyembahan berhala. Saya pikir banyak, jika tidak kebanyakan, Amerika memandang pekerjaan dan segala sesuatu yang lain dalam kehidupan mereka sebagai apa yang harus mereka lakukan untuk hiburan dan rekreasi. "Berapa lama sampai aku bisa berbaring di sofa dan menonton TV [atau browsing Internet atau posting di Facebook atau apa pun aktivitas lain Anda mungkin ingin untuk memasukkan di sini]?" adalah pertanyaan utama bagi banyak orang, saya percaya.Saya mengajar ini dalam perkawinan pembangun minggu dalam konteks bagaimana kemalasan mengganggu kemampuan suami untuk memimpin keluarga. Saya setuju dengan Doug Wilson bahwa kemalasan adalah dosa yang laki-laki-laki dan perempuan rentan secara alami. Oleh karena itu, jika kita berharap untuk membawa istri dan keluarga kita, kita sebagai orang harus terus-menerus melawan dosa kemalasan.To help us do that, I used a number of passages from the book of Proverbs to demonstrate how the Bible portrays laziness or sloth. For example, laziness is infuriating (Prov. 10:26), obvious (Prov. 24:30-34), and shameful (Prov. 10:4-5). It also makes excuses (Prov. 22:13) and demonstrates an idiotic lack of task completion (Prov. 12:27 & 19:24). Further, it love frivolity (Prov. 28:19), is never satisfied (Prov. 13:4 & 21:25-26), prevents real rest (Prov. 19:15 & 26:13-16), is a harder way to live (Prov. 15:19), is wise in its own eyes (Prov. 26:16), and leads to want and misery (Prov. 6:6-11, 13:4, 19:15, 20:4, 21:25-26, 24:30-34, 28:19).Not a pretty picture! Sometimes it is helpful to see sin for what it is. Once we see it in all its folly and filthiness, it is often easier to resist it. Thus, the presentation of the picture above.Last week I ran out of time in presenting some solutions. So, this week in Marriage Builders, I am going to discuss some of the solutions to laziness and sloth. I will give some practical ideas of how to combat this sin, and, hopefully, that will help us to lead the families that God has given us.The following is a list of some verses from the Bible on laziness. They are in the English Standard Version.