The Deadly Sin of Laziness (EP 199)

this episode is brought to you by nordstrom for 125 years nordstrom has been part of your story the stylist who found the perfect outfit for your big interview the first pair of walking shoes for your one-year-old the tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe these are the moments that make nordstrom nordstrom big or small we're here for all of it celebrating 125 years with new moments still ahead discover it all in nordstrom stores and nordstrom.com propel fitness water with gatorade electrolytes zero sugar and vitamins propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self what propels you propel with gatorade electrolytes what's going on guys welcome back to another episode of the bryce carver podcast i'm bryce and today by the title of this episode we're going to be talking about something that i think gen z and a lot of people are riddled with we're going to be talking about sloth and laziness what this looks like definitionally what the bible says about it and how we can overcome it you see sloth is extreme laziness it's extreme laziness and passivity that comes from a lack of purpose and passion for god romans 12 verse 11 tells us do not be slothful in zeal but be fervent in spirit serve the lord whenever we become lazy and slothful whether it be in day-to-day life whether it be with something god's called us to do whether it be you know something that is very plain and bland good or bad rainy or sunny day we are lacking this zeal and passion and gratitude for the life that god has given us and paul says right off the bat in romans 12 he's like look don't be slothful in zeal like don't be lazy in your passion for me be fervent in spirit be excited about the day because there are people that didn't wake up today that you've woken up there are people that went to bed last night and didn't wake up today there are people that don't wake up today that didn't wake up today that don't have the abilities and the talents that you have there are people that don't have arms or legs or mute or deaf or whatever it may be so many people have different things so you should be grateful for the position that god has you and be fervent in spirit and serve the lord be excited about where he has you and that excitement should lead you in obedience and servitude to the lord and so if we have this deep laziness and passivity because we lack care and and depth and gravity for the responsibilities that god has given us this might be a sign of sloth or laziness because we're lacking purpose and passion you see when we are lazy or we procrastinate or we have sloth we are slapping god in the face for the life that he's given us we are not grateful that we woke up today we are not grateful for our talents we're not grateful for the position that he's put us in the friends that he's put in our way whatever it may be we are slapping him in the face and saying i wish you gave it to someone else that's why the parable is so interesting because we don't talk about passivity the last guy that that was given talents he goes and buries it out of fear so yeah maybe maybe sloth and laziness make may stem from actual sadness and lack of purpose and passion maybe you might be lazy because you're afraid you're afraid you're going to misuse a gift you're afraid you're going to do something wrong you're going to make a mistake whatever that may be maybe you're burying it in fear and when we set our gifts and talents or responsibilities on the shelf out of fear or laziness whatever we may whatever it may be we slap god in the face as he got i'm not grateful for the position that you've that you've put me in and so sloth is either two things okay sloth can either be inactivity right laziness or something like that or it can be restless hyperactivity i believe the devil can't make you sin he'll make you busy and he'll make you busy because you try to find satisfaction significance and security in the things that you do and you're on this endless hill of whatever that looks like but mainly sloth and laziness comes from inactivity lack of purpose and passion we're going to read proverbs and what it talks about in proverbs 6 and proverbs uh 13 and 12 and stuff like that we're going to read about what it talks about about laziness and sloth but we need to understand something laziness and you might be experiencing laziness because you have a lack of care for the responsibilities that god has given you you are slothful and zeal like romans 12 says rather you have to look at the responsibilities that god has given you not as a burden but as a joy because he trusts you with a will he trusts you with things and we're going to talk a little bit about sabbath and how i believe there's like this uh an interesting culture around sabbath and why i think sabbath is so important and some cool stories but second sloth can come from like a sadness of sorrow come from sadness and sorrow that leads to despair and that's why i love what proverbs 6 talks about combating laziness you know what it says in proverbs 6 verse 6 it says go to the aunt oh sluggard consider her ways and be wise and this is what i love about about verse 7 without having any chief officer or ruler she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food and harvest how long will you lie there oh sluggard when will you arise from your sleep 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 so not only will you lack purpose and zeal but there will be physical repercussions for being passive for procrastinating for being lazy and what i love about this passage when it pertains to laziness and sloth is it says observe the ant look at the ant look at the life of the ant and oftentimes like i'm only thinking about an ant when i need to stomp on it or squash it whatever it may be solomon is like no look at the life of an ant it's actually super profound you know why it's profound is because they don't have a queen bee telling them what to do they don't have a general manager bossing them around they don't have a mom or dad telling them what to do they are motivated they are motivated to do the work that they were designed to do you were designed for work good work let our good works be shown before men so that it gives glory to our father who is in heaven you see our devotion to the lord and our gratitude for responsibilities that he's given us shines that we serve a creator it shines that we love jesus and when we walk out the call of god that god has placed us in our place in our lives or when we walk out responsibilities that he's trusted us with or we live this thing out and we do good work it's not for our own sake but it's to point to someone who has given us purpose you see we look for purpose and destiny in sin and people and sports and so many other things that leave us hopeless rather than just wanting to do good work rather than finding our purpose identity and destiny in jesus christ and allowing the things that he has given us the talents the responsibilities whatever it may be we allow those things to point back to him because that's what it's all about is letting those things that he has given us point back to him look at what proverbs 13 verse 4 says about about uh laziness and sloth it says the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied let's talk about this when it comes to laziness and sloth we oftentimes ask god to do things and when he doesn't do them we act like god is mean when really you're just being lazy the reality is is god has given you a sound mind god has given you a body god has given you limbs god has given you purpose personality talents gifts abilities and things to accomplish these goals so you can't get mad at the holy spirit for not doing something that you're able to do okay that's like me looking at the camera and going holy spirit bring that camera into my hand it's like why don't i just stand up and go over there and get the camera okay in the same way you can't get mad at the holy spirit for things that you are practically able to do you're just being lazy and you're slapping god in the face and it's the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing hey real quick before we keep going i have an announcement i've been really excited to make i'm officially announcing our ministry's biggest live event ever open heaven it's happening sunday november 8th 2026 at 7 30 pm at the pavilion at toyota music factory in irving texas this is going to be a night centered around worship faith and genuine community all of us together in one room encountering god in person there's going to be live worship and really special moments throughout the night tickets are on sale right now head to bryce crawford.org slash tour or click the link in the description below to grab yours and please only buy through my official site or that link do not buy from random resellers online a lot of them are scams i genuinely believe this is going to be a night people carry with them for a long time i would love to see you there all right back to the episode the soul of the lazy man wants everything handed to him on a silver platter okay and he gets nothing you know why because he's not reaping the hard work that he has sown in but what does he say well the soul of the diligent is richly supplied i'll give you a prime example i in the mornings before 10 a.m i have a couple things i got to do i got to i got to walk my dog and go on a prayer walk i got to read my bible in the morning and i've got to work out those are my things and the workout part is so hard for me mentally because there's so many days i don't want to wake up or i wake up and i'm like man that pillow feels a little extra comfortable or man i i don't feel like working out my body's sore or i'm tired or i didn't get enough sleep but when i go work out there's a couple other things that i need to work out but when i go work out there's a couple other things that i need to work out but when i go work out there's a couple other things that i need to work out things that i need to work out but when i go work out there's a couple other things that happen spiritually i am grateful that i honor god with my body i'm grateful that he allowed me to wake up i'm grateful that we have muscles and joints and the ability to go work out and sweat and put put in the hard work. But physically, I find this satisfaction where I go, wow, I did something hard. This encourages me to do more hard things. The fact that I got up and conquered this thing and I was diligent, this supplies me richly and fuels me in a way where I'm motivated to serve my wife, serve my friends, serve the people that are a part of our ministry, to serve people that I've never met, all because we honor God, not in laziness, but in deed, in action. We actually need to take action when it comes to the things that we have in our lives and the responsibilities that we have. Because like I said again, and I'm going to keep repeating myself, but it's important that we notice this. Whenever we are lazy, we slap God in the face with a lack of gratitude. Now, there's a difference between rest and laziness, and we'll get there, what does Proverbs 26 say in verse 13? The sluggard says, there's a line in the road, there's a line in the streets, and as the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed. You know what the lazy man does? He goes, there's responsibilities to be done. I'll do them later. We want to talk about laziness, but we don't want to talk about procrastination. Procrastination stems and breeds and fuels off of laziness. And it comes back and bites you in the tail. But let's talk about rest. You see, Sabbath is important. Selah, you see these breaks in the Psalms. Selah, selah, it just means to rest, break. Sabbath, what does that look like? Sometimes Christians can take Sabbath culture and create laziness out of Sabbath culture. So you go, I need to rest. I need to rest. I need to rest. I need to rest. Yes, we do. The reason why I love the Sabbath so much is we take a Sabbath. My Sabbath is personally Sundays. I go to the local church. I spend time with my wife. I spend time with life-giving friends. I do something that is life-giving that's not just reading your Bible. And I don't do any work. I don't get on my phone much. And I rest. And that rest, the Lord created the earth in six days, created the universe in six days. And what did he do? He rested on the seventh day. You see, Sabbath was designed for mankind. Not for us to legalistically approach the Sabbath. Sabbath was made for us. We do need rest. In fact, the Sabbath day of rest fuels the other six days of work. I was really thinking about this. Today is Tuesday. On Monday, yesterday, I was thinking, man, I'm so glad I Sabbathed yesterday because for me, it's uncomfortable. I'm from the South. I like to work hard. I like to, you know, go the extra mile. That's just, that's just what I like to do. And so sometimes I can, I can like ignore the Sabbath, but I've been trying to do it. I've been trying to do it. I've been trying to make a consistent habit of not ignoring the Sabbath. And I was like, man, God, I'm so glad that I Sabbathed on Sunday, even though it feels uncomfortable to my flesh because I feel sharper. I feel ready. I'm excited. I'm pumped about the week. I feel fuel. I feel like I actually have fuel in my tank to accomplish the things that you have trusted me with. But when we take the Sabbath to go, yeah, you know, I need more than just one Sabbath. I need to like, you know, rest. And I need to do that. We create a culture of laziness and then we create a culture of passivity. It's sin. Laziness isn't a label for Sabbath isn't a label for laziness. It's sin. Passivity isn't Sabbath. It's sin. And in fact, I don't want to, I love what Tim Tebow says about this because he has a great balance and he has great stuff on Sabbath and hard work. He says, I don't want to get to heaven well-rested. And what he means by that. And what I mean by that is I don't want to get to heaven and go, yeah, God, I was more focused on just not using, not taking responsibility for the things that you've trusted me with and not using the gifts that you've given me for your glory. I just, just felt like chilling. I said, no, I don't want to get to heaven well-rested in the sense that yes, I want to find consistent rhythms of Sabbath in my life. And in your life, I want you to find the same that fuel you. And I want to use the moments that I have with my breath and ability and actions and strength, physically, emotionally, and responsibilities for his glory, expand his kingdom, make impact for the kingdom of heaven, whatever it may be. And the reality is, is like, if you sit back, God will use someone else. And in my mind and in my heart, I'm like, man, God, I want you to use all of us. Like use me, use you, use whoever you are watching or listening to this. Like we should desire for God to use us and he wants to use us, but we have to be willing and able, to do so. Let me pray for us. Lord Jesus, we thank you for today. God, we thank you for our bodies. We thank you for our minds. We thank you for our souls. We thank you for will. God, we thank you for your, your overall will for every believer, but your specific will for each individual watching or listening in this God, would you just give us passion, passion and zeal for you? We don't want to be lazy in your zeal. We don't want to be slothful in your zeal. Like Paul writes Romans 12. We want to be fervent in spirit, excited about the responsibilities and talents you've given us to serve you God. And we want to use it for your glory, not for ourself. We don't want to build your kingdom. We want to grow your kingdom. And we know God, we're not doing you a favor. You don't need us. You want us. And that's the beauty of using our actions, talents, bodies, and gifts for your glory. So God, we love you. We rebuke any laziness in Jesus name. God, would you give us discipline and strategy, surround us with godly friendships that would challenge us to continue to walk out, not laziness, but activity to, to not live in passivity. God, we love you. We thank you. We praise you in Jesus name. This week, it pays extra to be a Milo's Rewards member. Through October 14th, members get $10 Milo's money when you spend $200 or more on an eligible purchase during Milo's Money Days. Also using your Milo's Rewards credit card? Even better. That's an additional $20 Milo's money. Use it to save on your next Lowe's haul. Exclusions, restrictions, and more terms apply. See lowes.com slash Milo's Money Days for details. Milo's Money expires 30 days after issuance. Subject to change. Credit offer subject to credit approval. Online deal days are back at Kroger. Don't miss your chance for extra savings when you shop, pick up, or delivery. You can save $30 on your first online order of $75 or more with your digital coupon. Plus, enjoy unlimited free delivery by starting a boost-free trial today. But hurry, these extra savings end October 20th. Restrictions apply. See site for details. Kroger. Fresh for everyone. Amen.