Laziness

"A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things." (Proverbs 18:9 NLT)

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4 ESV)

My children are lazy. Now, I know part of it is just a lack of understanding and common sense. However, they leave things out or undone with the unrealistic expectation that it won't matter to anyone else and will take care of itself.

We are working on teaching the older two that they should be responsible for their actions and belongings. Sometimes that means leaving a mess for the day so that they can take care of it later. Or holding my tongue to keep from nagging them so that they can learn that not putting away their laundry means it is much harder to find a clean pair of socks to wear to school. They have to learn that someone has to deal with the consequences of laziness.

When you are lazy, who is it that has to pick up your slack? Do you think about who it is that has to clean up that trash you leave at the movie theater or the laundry you throw on the floor? How about thinking of who it is that has to help teach Sunday School because it takes too much time to prepare or work in the nursery because it is hard to clean up the toys at the end of the hour? If we all took Philippians 2:4 to heart, we would truly live in a better world. A world of service instead of selfishness.