hey guys and welcome back to Growing through it I'm your host Lyla an how are you guys doing I hope you're having a great amazing fantastic day I am super excited to talk to you today I'm super excited for today's episode because it's a little controversial it's a little controversial it's a little convicting I know it was convicting for me and so we're just going to have that conversation today's episode is all about laziness laziness guys I don't know about you but I hated the word lazy for years I hated that word because I felt
like it was mean like why are we using that word it's just mean why are we calling people lazy why are we describing things as lazy I just never liked it because growing up my dad used to always use that word if he told me to do the dishes and I didn't do the dishes it was like why are you lazy if my homework was not done and it should have been done it was like you're just lazy if my room was a mess you're lazy lazy was a word that was commonly used in our
house and I think it's because my dad was the most disciplined person on the planet and so when he would see me not being disciplined he was like you're just lazy and so for my entire life I never never wanted to hear that word but the Lord recently has let me know how laziness is in the Bible God actually addresses laziness and so we can't avoid it it's something that I think most of us struggle with from time to time but you're not alone in your struggle and I think for the longest time I was
maybe too kind when I would think about laziness I would give it another word like I'm just resting right I deserve this I've been working hard all week okay life is draining I'm not lazy I'm just relaxing I'm just chilling but I realize that the difference is I was resting 247 you know I think the difference between laziness and rest is that rest is biblical right rest is necessary rest is important Jesus rested he encouraged us to rest however laziness is not rest rest is a reward for hard work it's a necessary pause that rejuvenates
us laziness is the absence of effort so we've never even put in that hard work and it's a habit that actually drains us rather than replenishes us now every day we feel tired every day we wake up and the days are just jelling together that is one I'm talking about with laziness and I was like well what's the problem with that that that's not a sin right is it is it a sin to be lazy is it a sin to just chill out all day and I think what we should focus on rather than is
that a sin or is that bad is does this lifestyle glorify God am I living up to my full potential and so I did a bible study on this because I had to ask myself this like is what I'm doing bad is is this lifestyle that I'm living bad and I was brought to Proverbs 6:9-11 where it says how long will you lie there oh sluggard when will you arise from your sleep a little sleep a little Slumber a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and
want like an armed man so I read this and I'm like well I don't see anything about laziness and I think this is what is so dangerous about not studying our Bible not studying our word because this word sluggard I don't really know what it means right I think of a slug I think of a snail I don't know what sluggard means so I just Breeze across it right but I think what God wants us to do when we read our Bibles is if we don't know a word look it up study it find out
what it means because the Lord might be trying to speak to to you but because we don't know the definition of that word or this thing or the context of that we miss something completely and so I don't know what a slugger is so I looked up what a slugger is and the definition of a slugger is someone who is habitually inactive or lazy y'all I read this and I'm like okay let me replace the word sluggard with now a definition that I I know so how long will you lie there you habitually unactive person
when will you arise from your sleep a little sleep a little Slumber a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man see now I'm convicted now that scripture is speaking not to everyone else but but to me to us it's saying how long will you lay there doing nothing taking unnecessary naps folding your hands scrolling on your phone doing nothing one day you'll wake up and poverty will be knocking at your door coming like an armed man that is terrifying but I
think what the Lord is doing is he's not trying to scare us he's trying to warn us you know before we get into this conversation I want to be very sensitive to people who are possibly struggling with their Mental Health I have been there before and this is not what I'm talking about today I know what it feels like when you are depressed and it is hard to get out of bed when you feel like you're doing everything you can but it feels like you're carrying all this weight and even brushing your teeth or taking
a shower or responding to a message feels draining right where we sleep just so we don't have to tackle the day that's not what I'm talking about here I went through a very very long time where I was clinically deped ressed and it was really really hard and so that's not what I'm talking about and we will have an episode on depression and if you feel like that is you what I just described I would love to pray for you however what I'm talking about today is laziness where we are choosing this lifestyle now recently
not that long ago a few months ago I was choosing laziness I wasn't depressed anymore but I was choosing to do nothing I was able to do everything but I was choosing to do nothing because at this time I just had a lot of free time and I spent most of my time just on my phone scrolling laying around like I said and I think that's what the Bible is talking about here it's talking about people who are choosing to do nothing with their lives because we struggle with laziness it's it's it's hard it's hard
to come to terms with I don't want to come to terms with it either but I think sometimes we have to use use those harsh words like the Bible does harsh words like sluggard a habitually inactive person because in all honesty sometimes that is us if we can just be honest if we can just be real sometimes we are the person who's not going out there who's not tackling life but just letting the days pass Us by because we're struggling with laziness the Bible says that the consequence of laziness in Proverbs 13:4 is that the
soul of a lugger the soul of a habitually inactive person they crave and they get nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied and so this is important because I feel like this paints us today so well the soul of the sluggard craves I think that's what we're doing when we find ourselves being lazy right we're laying in bed we're watching everyone else live the life that we desire to have do the things that we desire to do and we're just watching it we're craving it we're scrolling and we're seeing it but we're
not actually doing anything we spend our entire lives craving the Bible says while people who are willing to get up people who are willing to put in the hard work they're the ones that are eating the product of their hard work they're the ones that are eating the fruit of their hard work right not the lazy person they are the ones that are richly supplied so in in this scenario here both people are reaping what they seow and we don't even know that we're doing it I think that's the the trap in laziness is that
time just continues to Pass and Pass and next thing you know we look at the clock and it's like 6 o' and the day the day is just gone right the day is just gone and you're like well we'll try again tomorrow you you know but I don't want this to be your guys story and I don't think the Lord wants this to be your guys story so when I first started praying about laziness and my own behavior and the things that I was struggling with I remember the lord gave me a vision um a
vision that changed a lot for me I was praying and I was like God I I don't want to keep being lazy but I also don't know how to stop it's just so comfortable laying around all day I feel like maybe I'm addicted to my phone God what is it and I remember I was praying I was praying and I was waiting for the Lord to respond and he gave me a vision and it was the vision of me meeting Jesus at the pearly white Gates right and he's letting me in it's not that he's
not letting me in but he gives me this look and he just says to me gosh I just had so much planned for you I had so much planned for you so many things that I know you could have done so many things that I wanted to do with you but you just didn't do it and that was a vision and I was like oh my gosh that just broke my heart it broke my heart and it didn't shame me right because it was from the Lord it convicted me though it it let me know
that I can change that there is still time there is always time to change your behavior I think this was a gentle warning from the Lord that listen you can get a hold of this today you can say one day or this can be your day one it's time to get up it's time to put away your phone it's time to get out of bed it's time to open your Bible it's time and y'all that Vision just reminded me that listen like we can just live our days scrolling away doing whatever being late buy not
working out not being disciplined but time is still passing time is still passing by you know when I was going through my lazy season for a while I realized it was like three months just passed me by 3 months and I was like where did time go so whether you're working hard or you're being lazy time is still passing it doesn't wait for anybody so it's time to start today and I would love to help you you guys start today because it is biblical and I think go God cares about it right because I mean
he didn't put us on this Earth to just exist he put us on this Earth to live and to live for him and to have life abundantly and so yeah how do we tackle laziness how do we get a hold of this first things first is we have to remember that all of this is for God we want to work harder for God we want to show up for God all of this is for God our lives are dedicated to him and so in Proverbs it says commit your work to the Lord and your plans
will be established if we commit our work to the Lord every single day our plans will be established if every day we wake up and we do the things we don't want to do but we say God this is for you he will establish our plans and he'll provide a way for us to get through it so I have three little tips for you guys on how we can conquer laziness together and how I've been implementing this in my life and it has helped me so much as a person who is not the most self-disciplined
woman on the planet I rais my hand I admit it this has helped me so much the first one is discipline right we cannot rely on our feelings there is so much that we are not going to feel like doing right if we always rely on motivation then then nothing will ever get done I am not motivated to clean my room and when I am motivated to clean my room it's because I saw someone on YouTube do like clean my house day with me or whatever and it's like 2 am and I'm like I can't
wait to clean my room but guess what I wake up and that motivation is gone it's already fleeted and so we can't rely on motivation what we need to rely on is discipline is building a habit of doing things even when we don't feel like doing it and allowing that to become a routine that our body and our mind starts to learn we cannot rely on our feelings but we have to rely on the truth we may not always feel like reading our Bible but the truth is is that we always seem to feel better
when we invite the presence of God into the room when we spend time with God when we get to know him when we realize he deserves it and to have a true relationship ship with someone you have to spend time with them and that is including the God Almighty and so that's a truth we may not always feel like going to the gym but we know that it's going to make us healthier right that's the truth it's going to make us healthier it's going to make our bodies stronger we may not always feel like cooking
a healthy meal right it takes more time it is way more easier to go through the drive-thru guilty I do that sometimes it's just easier to go through the drive-thru because I don't feel like cooking but the truth is is that cooking a meal at home with vegetables and healthy ingredients it's not only cheaper in the long run but it also makes me feel better that is the truth it makes my body healthier and so we have to rely on truth and we cannot rely on our feelings and then let those truths push us into
that discipline I read this quote years ago so many years ago it had to have been like in high school but it said the best way to build confidence is to do the things that you said you're going to do and I I mean this is so true I can tell you how many times I've created a to-do list for the day and the day is over and I'm still in bed and ain't one thing been checked off nothing has been checked off on that to-do list and what does that leave what does that leave
us feeling at the end of the day it makes us feel ashamed it makes us feel bad it makes us feel like oh man like I'm just lazy I can't do anything I'm why can't I just do the things I say I'm going to do and I think what builds confidence is relying on that discipline and doing the things that we say we're going to do what builds confidence in our relationship with God showing up every single day and saying I'm going to read my Bible even when I don't feel like it I am going
to do it because God deserves it I'm going to set out time and do it I'm just going to do it I'm not going to talk about doing it I'm not going to think about doing it I'm just going to do it I am just going to do it the same thing with the gym just showing up every single day until it becomes a routine you don't have to go to a gym every single day but just getting active finding ways to get out of bed going for a light walk I think we have to
start honoring the bodies that God has given us not because we want to look a certain way or have a certain figure but just to keep it healthy just to keep it healthy so we can continue running the race that Jesus has set before us we have to be healthy in order to do that right we have to be healthy in order to pour out into other people so start by just doing the things that you said you're going to do every day every day it doesn't have to be a drastic change you don't have
to run a mile a day and then do this and do this but if you know you have this project that you have been wanting to start but you just can't find the discipline or the motivation to do it just do one little thing for it every single day say okay I'm going to start building the website work on that today and just get that done you don't have to climb a mountain in a day but just start taking steps to get there and I think that's what starts to encourage us right that's what starts
to motivate the discipline and so we're not relying on the motivation we're relying on the discipline but now the discipline has its own own motivation we're already being disciplined but now we're encouraged and inspired to keep being disciplined last episode I mentioned how I have a walking pad I love my walking pad and actually I ended up buying this walking pad after the Lord had given me that vision and I did this bible study on laziness because I had to do something that was practical for me it is not practical for me to go outside
every single day and go for a walk okay I just I don't love that I don't love being alone at the park when my husband's at work it's just that sounds scary I don't know who's around me that's just not my thing and so you have to pick something that's practical for you so for me I have my walking pad when I'm working when I'm listening to something when I'm doing anything I'm doing it on my walking pad and it helps me get my 10,000 steps a day and it just makes me feel healthy it
makes me feel better it makes my body feel good and so that's a little step that I did just to become more disciplined at first you think I wanted to walk on that walking PAAD heck no but after two weeks three weeks a month I look forward to it because not because it's fun but because it's going to make my life better in the long run it's going to provide a healthy heart it's going to build my stamina things that are just important that's what it's doing so find things every every day where you can
be disciplined to just start doing the things that you said you're going to do the second thing that I have for you guys is routines is routines for some of y'all this might sound like a cuss word you might be type B not type A and you hate routines you might hate calendars you hate schedules and you're not a routine person or you might be the opposite you might love routines and this might help you either way routines are important because they tie in with discipline and so what's a way that we can build a
routine to help us get closer in our relationship with God for me it's it was reading the Bible first thing in the morning first thing in the morning I used to like get so frustrated when people would tell me to read my Bible in the morning because I'm not a morning person I was like I don't want to do anything in the morning I'm not a morning person I want a slow morning but I realized that when I started waiting till 6:00 or 8:00 or the end of the day to read my Bible it was
never getting done because excuses and obstacles kept popping up and so getting that done first thing in the morning was one starting my day off in the presence of God it was having time with him and space with him and letting my entire day be surrendered to him but two I've spent time with the Lord for the day and now if I go to bed and I forget it's already been taken care of and it's not something that needs to slip or not be a priority it is my first priority of the day and I'm
letting the Lord know that and I'm letting myself know that and it just sets the trajectory of the day and I love it however if that doesn't work for you you absolutely can set out a time or a routine for you to read your Bible or to pray or to spend time with God or to worship but if you find yourself struggling with discipline and not being able to carve out time naturally then sometimes we have to carve out time physically put it in a calendar set an alarm turn off your phone set a routine
same thing with working out I have to work out in the morning because I know that I am way less likely to work out after work you're tired you're exhausted excuses come up um maybe you have an emergency maybe now your night is filled with something you have to attend to and so getting it done in the morning is just saying listen I'm going to get it done Here I Am Lord use me I'm going to show up it doesn't have to be a vigorous weightlifting exercise it doesn't have to be anything crazy but just
something to start getting your body moving to start getting your body moving getting your body going that way you just feel awake for the day and it's it's about your health the Bible calls our body a temple it's ours to take care of of we're supposed to take care of this body that we've been given that's biblical it's a way of honoring our bodies and so working out for me is the way I honor my body just staying active I think for me why routines were so hard is because I told myself for the longest
time like I'm just not a morning person I'm not a morning person this is not who I am but I think at some point I have to realize that I am letting this label that I've given myself hold me back right the Lord never told me that I wasn't a morning person the Lord never actually the Lord has beautiful scriptures about Morning Dew and all these things he he talks about how beautiful it the morning is and so for me to say I'm not a morning person it just feels it feels like almost an excuse
for me it feels like an excuse I think sometimes we have to tear down labels and instead of saying I'm not a morning person find out new things about ourselves what if you are a morning person what if you've challenged yourself and now realize that you actually love the morning you love spending time with the Lord in the morning you just needed that extra push you needed that routine to help you set that in place and now you might love waking up at 6:00 a and reading your Bible and then going for a run I
mean that might be a miracle for you but who knows who knows what you can learn about yourself with discipline and routines the last thing that I feel like can help you guys guys tackle laziness is boundaries boundaries boundaries boundaries I think this is my favorite one I love a good boundary and boundaries are everywhere and they're for everything and for me I have a few boundaries in my life that keep me from being lazy and keep my priorities in line first I am not allowed to do anything fun anything anything unless I read my
Bible that is a boundary and listen we have to make sure that Idols are not appearing right it is very easy for things to become an idol working out eating healthy all this stuff you start to worship that and it's all about you now but remember we said in the beginning that we are committing our work to the Lord and so I am not allowed to do anything I'm not even allowed to do this podcast okay I'm not even allowed to do this podcast unless I read my Bible unless I have time with God and
so that is a boundary for me with my walking pad that I just mentioned I am not allowed right I am allowed I can do anything but this is a boundary that I set for myself I don't allow myself to watch TV to scroll on Tik Tok to do any of those things unless it is on my walking pad because you know what that does it encourages me to walk on my walking pad you know I'm so excited to watch my show I'm so excited to catch up on this podcast I'm going to have to
do it on the Walking pad I'm going to have to do it on the Walking pad it does not have to be this way forever but as I'm creating discipline as I'm creating routines this boundary is in place to help me succeed and so I've been getting my 10,000 steps a day because I look forward to walking now because I know that my walking pad is now my TV time I know that my walking had is now my hangout time right it's my rest time not my lazy time it's my rest time I'm still resting
even while I'm walking active rest and I love it I love it those are two boundaries that I have for myself another boundary for you could be having accountability having accountability around you telling a friend about your goals telling your friends the things that you want to succeed in asking them to pray for you asking them to join alongside you I know that the biggest reason why I feel like I'm the most disciplined I've ever been in my life right now is because one I'm married for the first time ever for the first and only
time ever and my husband is the most disciplined naturally person on the planet and so if I tell him hey babe you know I really want to start working out every day I really want to start eating healthy I really want to grow in my relationship with the Lord and you know start reading my Bible for an hour a day and not 30 minutes he's going to hold me accountable right he is checking for me always in a very loving way but you guys know Drew you saw him in the podcast but he is going
to ask me like hey babe like did you get did you have time to do that today how was that he forms it in a way I love it he forms it and he ask me how was that instead of did you have time to do it today almost expectant for me to do it she's like so how is the gym today I'm like oh you know what let me grab my little gym bag real quick because it's accountability it's having Community it's having people that are joining alongside you and encouraging you right if you
struggle with Community if you're still looking for your people start saying yes to things start signing up for things to just get you out of the house right sign up for that Bible study that happens weekly sign up for that monthly small group sign up for volunteering at church on Sundays that way people are looking forward to seeing you right they know that you're going to be there it says your name on the list and so that is just encouragement for you to get out of bed and you have a place to go you have
someone that's expecting to see you I don't care if it's a pickleball team if it's a kickball Club a run Club whatever it is a cooking class whatever it is for you sign up start saying yes to things and then what does this do this builds a routine this builds discipline and now you have places to go you have places and people who are expecting you and if you don't like I said if you don't have your community right now if you're not married if you're not in a relationship for the longest time in my
life my biggest accountability was God I started telling God God I want to do this for you I want to honor you in this way God will you hold me accountable and listen the Holy Spirit he will gently nudge let me tell you if he's going to do anything he will gently nudge sometimes I can feel God's eyes on me when I've been just wasting the day away a little too long I can feel him looking at me like all right a little sleep a little Slumber how long are you you know literally Proverbs how
long are you going to lay there when are you going to get up it's time it's time to get up tell God about the things that you want to do and ask him to hold you accountable and the one thing about God is if you ask him to do something he will do it if you ask him like God hold me accountable will remind me he will but he won't intrude he's not going to force you he's not going to shame you he'll gently nudge you but it is up to us to put in the
work it is up to us I wrote this little encouragement for you guys last night um when I was planning this episode and I just wanted to read it to you I wanted to read it to you it says remember God doesn't call us to Perfection but to progress if you're struggling with laziness know that his grace meets you where you are lean on his strength one small step at a time every effort you make to grow in diligence is a step closer to the person he's shaping you to be trust that as you seek
Him He will renew your spirit ignite your purpose and give you the energy to press forward you're not alone in this journey God is with you cheering you on and with him you can overcome anything keep going he's got you God guys we can tackle laziness it is the end of our laziness era it is the end we're closing that chapter we've all been there do not feel bad if it has been going on for a year six months a week a day do not feel bad but let this encourage you let this convict you
to change to do better not shame you not make you feel like what the heck have I've been doing with my life but to encourage you you totally got this listen if I can become anywh discipline you can you can you can do it I am not better than you I'm not more special than you all I did was set up three simple things in my life that could help me be the person that God wanted me to be so I could better honor and glorify him I am a better person when I'm not lazy
I'm a Kinder person when I'm not lazy I end up doing the things I said I was going to do I end up showing for people in more loving ways I end up not canceling plans because I'm too tired and I don't want to go I'm a better Christian I'm a better believer I'm a better disciple and I want that for you guys to close all of this out Colossians 3:23 says whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men remember whatever you do do it for the Lord Do It for
the Lord let him be your encouragement let him be your reason I'm telling you guys it wasn't until Jesus gave me that vision of just seeing his face and he wasn't disappointed but it was more just like gosh I I just had so many plans for you let that be the vision that you see in your mind God saying to you I have so many plans for you if you would just get up if you would just turn off your phone if you would just put it away I can show you exactly who you were
meant to be for my glory guys thank you so much for watching this episode thank you so much for just I don't know just being here all the time I'm so grateful for you and I cannot wait to see you guys next week I cannot wait to hear about your overcoming laziness Journey if anything exciting has happened for you guys since you have listened to this episode or you've started implementing those routines please leave a comment down below I love to check your guys' progress I love to see what you're up to y'all are just
my friends you know I just love you so yeah thank you guys so much for watching God bless you and I will see you guys next week bye
