Diligence

Diligent hands will rule,but laziness ends in slave labor.

Proverbs 12:24 (NIV)

Diligence is an eager determination and decision to do that which needs to be done. No dragging the feet, no slacking.

Moms, I’m afraid that we’re training our children to be lazy. We are teaching them to procrastinate by allowing them to take shortcuts, put things off, and quit before the job is done. Every time they skate by with no consequences, the deeper that habit becomes.

We know how this works. When I am too lazy to pull a few weeds, they go to seed and the next spring I have thousands of weeds. Every time I put off getting a bill paid, I have a late fee. A lazy life is a wasteful life. Instead of being on top of things, they are on top of you. It’s a bad way to live.

I have fought the battle of procrastination my entire life. For instance, I love a clean desk, but I hate to clean it. So let’s apply two simple steps as I clean my messy desk.

1. Start small and get started. Right now I have stacks of books piled on my desk. I am going to get two shoe-box-sized bins and sort the books in two categories. Wow! That took all of five minutes.
2. Once I get started, the next step is easy. I will now sort the paperwork into two other bins. One is “to file,” the other is “to do” (bills, etc.). Wow, that took fifteen minutes. In the process, I found an expired certificate (oops), and a missing phone charger (yay). Good job, Debbi.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

If you have kids still at home or grandkids who stay over, it is important to impart a joyful and diligent work ethic. In the real world, benefits don’t fall in place until responsibility is taken care of. We stunt kids’ growth when they get to watch a movie or go out to play before they clean up a mess they’ve made in the family room. Teach them to pick up toys when they are at a friend’s house, too. Diligence is a learned trait, and happy is the child who learns it at home.

One Year Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 32:28-52; Luke 12:35-59; Psalm 78:56-64; Proverbs 12:24