Kŗ

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forums here and I am looking for some ways to overcome my own laziness. As a christian, a Father and an employee I find myself doing as little as possible in all of these areas of my life.

I don't feel compelled to read the bible, I know this is probably the most important thing I should be doing. I find myself being complacent about attending church and seeking the face of god in the things that I do. How can I do the first works when I am not sure what those were?

I am a father of 3 young children and I love them very much. I enjoy them but I find myself neglecting them when I do have the time to spend with them. I work in the evenings and my wife works in the mornings. When she comes home I go to work after they get home from school so I hardly see my older 2 (6, 8). I can see that my inability to be with them during the night is affecting their entire life because I am not there to direct them.

When I am there I find myself wanting to do other things than what I know I need to do with them. (Reading, writing, math and just being good father and husband)

I work in a NOC (Network operations center) of a data center where I live. I don't do anything until something goes wrong and 90% of my time I am doing absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, I am sitting here at work right now with nothing to do. My job doesn't require much, but I find myself being extremely complacent at work by not showing up early like I should, Not clocking in/out for lunches like I should and I believe this is where I started to be lazy.

I worked in the data center for 4 years now and I earned a 2 year degree in Networking Systems. I have not continued my education because of my attitude towards my life style which is just being lazy. I do what I need to at work to make sure the job is done correctly and that my employers have nothing but praise about "how" I perform my duties.

In my personal life I have no fellowship to speak of, no friends and my only social outlet is my wife and children. Strangely, that doesn't bother me too much because I love them very much. I attend church with Pastor Chuck Smith and in this church I am some what spoiled because he teaches the bible verse by verse through the whole bible. The congregation is so large that it's difficult for a quite person like me to get plugged into a bible study or some ministry without feeling that I don't belong.

What I need to know is How do break the pattern of laziness? Where should I start? What should I do?

I know the truth… it has not set me free or I have become a willing prisoner. Any advice will be helpful

fruitots9

"I find myself doing as little as possible in all of these areas of my life."

"I don't feel compelled to read the bible,.."

"I find myself being complacent about ..."

"..I find myself neglecting them when I do have the time to spend with them."

"When I am there I find myself wanting to do other things..."

"...but I find myself being extremely complacent at work.."

I pulled out some things that stood out to me to make this point. I know someone who is alot like this and have talked to them about it and told them that my guess is that they are apathetic. Apathy is overwhelming and can blind you on going forward. It is draining and blocks motivation. There is an article on this subject at this link that may be helpful.

http://www.9marks.org/cc/article/0,,PTID34418|CHID629574|CIID1948418,00.html?rating =5&SubmittedARate=yes&ipaddress=&ruserid=

God and His Word is our ultimate Help and Resource.

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Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet, and a Light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

Kŗ

I do actually feel defeated. I can't think of any way to effectively get the truth out when there are sooo many overwhelming things blocking it at every turn.

I mean I look at the political side of things and thing "If we could get Christians in office and in the courts we would have some affect." I personally cannot fathom how and it depresses me. God told us we are going to lose this battle, He has gained vistory ultimately but we will lose this one here before the rapture. things are going to get worse and there isn't a whole lot we can do about it. There are so many lies blotting out the truth by sheer number alone. If I speak to anyone about God 99% of the time they have only parts of truth mixed in with a whole lot of lies... and what’s worse is that they really truly believe what they are saying even though they have never done any research to verify their own "beliefs". I guess that's why I am depressed and I feel like giving up because of the magnitude of failure I see in our society today because of basic truths being railroaded by a horde of lies. How am I able to even make an impression on anyone with those odds?

I ultimately understand that the Lord is able and willing to do what he said he would do. It is not me that will change anything but Him. I guess I just lost faith and without close friends or a fellowship that I can go to gain confidence once again in my belief that God will prevail. Knowing the truth is one thing but living it is completely different.

Boanerges

A very wise man once said this "habits are children of our choices". Ask God for strength, get up and do the things you are lacking by faith in Christ. You will find that He will supply the power if you but ask and soon these things will become part of a godly habit pattern in your life. It is often that case that for one reason or another we find ourselves cut off from the very source of our life and strength- this was never meant to be this was. Feed your inner man and he will rise up in the power of the Lord and life will take on a whloe new meaning.
Many blessings in Jesus Name, your brother Larry.

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Anything that dims my vision for Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps me in my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me; and I must, as a Christian turn away from it. – J. Wilbur Chapman

Beloved

Whatever you need Kris, submit to the Father, and ask for what you want...
If its to overcome laziness or anything else, ASK ... THis is one of many jobs of the Holy Spirit ! In prayer be thankful to Christ...

Most of my asking resulted in crockpot reality... In His wisdom I came to depend on Him more this way and learned to LOVE Him more, daily...

I pray that their may be in your life a time were the Lord will be more real to you than the physical world we live in...

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Shalom

( SHALOM says: Completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. )

Beloved
1 Corinthians 14:1 Let Love be your highest goal.

smorse1

I don't know about anyone else, but I would venture to say that we all feel like this from time to time. I have to force myself to go to church-if I miss a sunday, it becomes an easy decision to miss the next one too. I don't know if it is complacency, so much as it is distractions - I am actually a very driven person, prone to being a work-a-holic. I have to make time for the people in my life - kids, wife. I too feel somewhat disconnected from any other kind of Christian fellowship. Hang in there friend, and determine to pick up the word and read it, even if only briefly, every day. This is what has made a world of difference in my life!
Blessings!

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Timmy_522

Set yourself goals. Start small and work your way up. These goals can obviously be long or short term. Hobbies, sporting interests, a more challenging job, cooking even. Anything that motivates you will do. I've found myself bored with life in the past, and it really is the little things that make all the difference. Never say never and there's a good chance you'll be on your way.

Boanerges

There are days when I do not feel like reading and praying - if I do it anyway I am invariably greatly blessed. The flesh is not on our side my friend but as we sow to the Spirit we find life!

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Anything that dims my vision for Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps me in my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me; and I must, as a Christian turn away from it. – J. Wilbur Chapman

Whirlwind

Hey Kris!

I used to weigh close to 300 lbs. I had diabetes, I am a alcoholic (in recovery now, praise the Lord), I was unemployed, I lived on the streets for a short stint, and nobody respected me.

All it takes is one small grain of sand at a time, my friend. You've been guided by the Lord to move - that's wonderful! He has placed this in your life and is telling you where to go and what to do now. He's never going to lead you in the wrong direction, my friend.

Think about the things you'd like to change/the things you'd like to do with your life. Then every day, take only a small grain of sand (amount of your time) and place it towards that goal. It might not seem like much...but believe me, a bunch of little grains of sand can eventually build a mountain! And it happens a lot sooner than you think, when God is blowing His wind at your back.

A grain of sand each day would be actively reminding yourself (and then following through) with punching in/out. A grain of sand would be going to bed 15 minutes earlier and setting your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier. A grain of sand would be keeping your bible where you love to sit.

For me, a grain of sand was walking on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day. Oh, it was hard! I was sore. I was huffing and puffing! Sooner or later (sooner than I thought) it was easy, and I wanted to - yes, really wanted to - up that time to 30 minutes. I started lifting weights and began to enjoy my new life! My pants sagged around me, and people started telling me that I looked like someone had popped me, like a big balloon! My diabetes went away. That same grain of sand made it possible for me to say no to alcohol. I knew drinking isn't what God wanted for me in my life. Plus, alcohol was nothing but dead, empty calories that held no value. I stopped drinking. My mind exploded into wonderful colors! Thinking about God was suddenly like having sugar on my brain. That made me want to read more about Him. And reading made me want to follow His Word, His laws for me.

One itty-bitty grain of sand at a time. Sooner than you think, you'll be standing on top of a mountain that God helped you to build!

When you think about one small grain of sand a day...it's a lot easier than trying to picture the huge mountain range that you eventually expect (and will receive) at the end, by God's glory. It's not hard to carry one small grain of sand...but it's going to pile up where you want it to.

I'll be praying for you, and God bless!

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Chapter-by-Chapter, verse-by-verse.
Jesus is the Living Word.