Christianity is not a spectator sport. There are no rewards or passes for spiritual laziness. It requires diligence perseverance and growth, but sometimes, it can feel like an uphill battle. Yes, God will supply all of your needs. Yes, you are saved by grace through faith, but a believer can become idle. If he or she believes that God doesn’t expect him to produce fruit.
In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about laziness and its ramifications pay.
Proverbs 13:4 reminds us that “the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”
And I know your desire is to love the Lord with your whole heart, but you may be spiritually comatose. So, let’s talk today about the seven-and-a-half, unsuspecting signs that you are a lazy Christian.
Now, please note that the signs that I’m referring to are representative of a long-term pattern, not a short-term problem. Each one of us even the most devout Christian will endure these signs at some point during their walk, but the problem comes when the solutions for our short-term problems now, become long-term patterns.
Sign #1 – You need Scriptures spoon-fed to you.
When was the last time that you cracked open your Bible and read it for yourself? Better yet instead of just reading it, when was the last time you studied the word, then cross-referenced the translations and dug into the commentaries to truly understand what you were reading?
Acts 17:11 commends self-study when it says, “now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica for, they received the messages with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
My friend if you are not studying the Scriptures for yourself, there is a good chance that you’re going to fall prey to false doctrine. And at the very least you will not be able to appropriate the truth for yourself since you often require others to convince you of its importance to know.
If you’re struggling with your Bible study and you want to learn how to up-level it, a good dear friend of mine Allen Parr has put out a very comprehensive and easy-to-follow course, it’s called Bible Study Made Easy. I strongly encourage you to check it out.
Sign #2 – You always need emotional support.
Look, there is nothing wrong with leaning on a brother or a sister in your time of need, but do you always find yourself in need?
Psalm. 42:5 is a beautiful reminder, that it is not always someone else’s job to pull you out of the ditch when it says, “Why am I discouraged, why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God. I will praise him again my Savior and my God.”
Those who always need to be propped up and encouragement supported can be a drain on relationships. Stop demanding from others what the Lord is willing to give freely. And my hope is that you will not allow your emotional dependency to pull you away from God and put, unnecessary weight on others.
Sign #3 – Your worship is flat.
Worship isn’t about just enjoying the music or being emotionally engaged. It is all about a full expression of praise and adoration to a holy God who deserves more than a couple of our flimsy hand claps while we scan our surroundings, hoping that the worship team ends after this song.
Worship also isn’t just a fuzzy feeling at the moment when the drums reverberate through your body, in fact, it’s not a feeling at all. It is a discipline that emanates from the depths of your relationship with your Heavenly Father.
So if you’re lukewarm in your prayer, light-handed in your service, and lethargic in your Bible reading, it is all going to show when it comes time to worship him. I had a friend of mine years ago say to me, I like to go to church, but I skip the music part. It’s just not my thing. But in essence, what he was saying is, I’m only interested in the parts that suit me. My friends, God deserves all of your worship and whatever energy requires to show it.
Sign #4 – You play the victim.
Does everyone know your story? Do you tend to compound and lump? Compound is when you add one thing, on top of another to make it bigger than it really is. Lumping is when you throw it all into one bad bucket, instead of dealing with things individually.
Both certainly make for very good dramatic storytelling that can manipulate people’s emotions but is bad for your faith. When you are constantly sharing your woes. When there is always something or someone else to blame including God, you my friend are in essence saying that my problems are bigger than my God. And if you don’t believe me, then I’m going to amplify my problems, even more. My friend you want to kill your faith and exhaust people’s compassion, keep playing the victim.
Sign #5 – You only trust God when your circumstances are good.
The most heartbreaking and frustrating messages I receive are from people who start the conversation with a simple, I follow God, but the next six paragraphs of all an endless barrage of complaints about what God is or isn’t doing in their life and my favorite are the ones that actually threatened me to walk away from God if he doesn’t come through for them.
And my heart goes out because I’ve been in those dire situations where you feel hopeless, but the response is just pure laziness.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and do not depend on your own understanding.”
And I can never answer why God is allowing something in a person’s life, but I do know that threatening to walk away certainly doesn’t hurt me. It’s only going to hurt you and truth be told, where else are you going to go? He’s the one that holds the words of eternal life.
Sign #5 – You only trust God, when your feelings are good.
Similar to sign number five, if your trust is only based upon how you feel that day, your faith is going to be flaky. Feelings are meant to be indicators, not drivers. They can tell you when something is off, but they aren’t supposed to rule you. And if you allow your feelings to dictate your thoughts and behaviors, you have taken a lazy approach to life and Christianity.
Galatians 5:16 reminds us, “But I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify, the desires of the flesh.”
My friend, tell your flesh, how you feel, not the other way around.
Sign #7 – Your but is too big.
Do you have a problem for every solution. Do people try to encourage you only to get hit with another one of your buts?
Are you the type to find every excuse to avoid doing your part and then complaining about why God isn’t doing his? The truth is as Christians, we are called to be good stewards of all that the Lord has given us and you must steward your time, your talent, and your treasures well.
And I frequently remind myself that my excuses won’t count for anything when I have to answer to God. So instead of taking a promise of God and ruining it with another one of your buts, I want you to put feet to your faith and state your complaint, but follow it up with but God.
Sign #7.5 – You wait to feel led.
There are some things that the Spirit of the Lord will lead us to do and then there are other things that he’s commanded us to do. Go make disciples, go to church, serving your local church, support the poor, fulfill your purpose, use your gifts, and steward your money well. I can go on and on and if you are always waiting to feel led you may feel better about your excuses but you won’t be fulfilling Biblical mandates. Plus it’s possible to ignore the promptings of God enough to where your conscience is now deadened and you truly don’t hear the leading of the Holy Spirit anymore. I pray that that won’t be you. My friend while salvation is free as Christians we are called to labor in the Lord. May you give yourself fully to worship and the work of the Lord. So which signs do you struggle with? Let me know in the comments below.
Are you struggling in your faith or do you want to grow in Mountain your faith? I want to invite you to grab a copy of our five-day Moving Faith devotional. It is my free gift to you. I will go ahead and include a link in the description section below. Are your thoughts, giving you life, or sucking the life, right out of you. There’s a famous saying that says as a man thinketh so is he so what happens when your mind is a mess?
If you struggle with your thought life check out my course
Renew – Control Your Mind, Transform Your Life.
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