Laziness is a sin! – 15 Bible verses about being lazy

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We’ve gathered 15 Bible verses about laziness.

As Christians, we are called to be diligent and hardworking in all aspects of our lives. This is because, as stated in Genesis 1:26-27, we are created in the image of God, who is a God of work and productivity. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

This means that, just as God worked hard in creating the world, we too are called to work hard and be productive in all that we do. As Christians, we are to honor God through our work, using the talents and abilities that He has given us to bring glory to Him and to serve others. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Let the verses below inspire to work hard.

1. Proverbs 6:6-8 – “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.”

2. Proverbs 10:4-5 – “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.”

3. Proverbs 12:11 – “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”

4. Proverbs 12:24 – “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”

5. Proverbs 13:4 – “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”

6. Proverbs 15:19 – “The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.”

7. Proverbs 18:9 – “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.”

8. Proverbs 19:15 – “Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.”

9. Proverbs 20:4 – “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.”

10. Proverbs 21:25 – “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.”

11. Proverbs 22:13 – “The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!””

12. Proverbs 24:30-34 – “I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 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.”

13. Proverbs 26:13-16 – “The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.”

14. Ecclesiastes 10:18 – “Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.”

15. Matthew 25:26-30 – “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? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”