Idleness

 “Idle hands are the devils workshop; idle lips are his mouth piece” - Proverbs 16:27

To some of you, the word idleness may be familiar and therefore you may understand the danger it can carry. Regardless, I’ll fill in those who are unfamiliar with what idleness is and why it’s dangerous. 

The dictionary defines the word idleness as having a lack of motion or energy. Other synonyms included are laziness, indolence, and sloth. I personally have walked through life for years not realizing what an idle life I was living. It didn’t have much to do with the unwillingness to work. As a young man I always had a good work ethic and could keep jobs and would regularly get promotions. I came to realize that my idleness came from my personal life, and that the habits I had formed on my own time was restricting, prohibiting, and limiting my talents and future success. 

In my adolescence I can’t say I was necessarily trained to always “take care of” or “put away neatly” the things that I owned or where surrounded by, this I came to find as one of the seeds I planted to start and idle lifestyle. The lack of care for the things around me led me to live just that way, uncaring. It may have started with cleaning and such, but after not cleaning for weeks and months of getting used to living in that dark, dirty, if we are being honest very smelly lifestyle, I began to become depressed. Now, I am not a scholar nor do I have a PHD in anything, but as God as my witness I will tell you that depression and idleness walk hand in hand together. So exposes the dangers of idleness.  

 Matthew 6:33 says “Seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be given unto you”. As an adult, my depression and idleness influenced me to feel hopeless and trapped in life. I stopped seeking, stopped being around healthy, positive friendships and traded them for negative ones or better yet, stay home to my own devices. I had no self discipline at all. 

I recently saw an interview with Jocko Willink, a retired Navy seal and author where he was touching on things he did in his life to be successful at his day. In this interview with Willink he says this. “If you want more freedom In your life, you have to have discipline. Without discipline you will have less freedom and will become a slave to someone else’s agenda. The more discipline you have the freer you are.” To use my own analogy, “A farmer who’s garden is well kept bares many fruits, but the garden of the idle farmer is occupied by weeds and consumed by the birds”. 

Self discipline is so important in life as it allows us to have and set goals. Without goals we have no plan or hope for the future, and where there is no hope, there is no growth. I admittedly lived like this for more than 15 years of my life. Between the ages of 10-20 the only things I can say I did successful or is worth mentioning is that I met Jesus, got my license, and got my GED, all of which I could have done in one year. I wasted it all. Allowing my surroundings to be dull and disorganized. My idleness led me away from my talents and things I like to do, to seeking cheap entertainment and easy living. I allowed my weight to get out of control, which led me to have a very poor self image. I stopped listening to what the voice of God said, crawled inside myself, and only listened to the voice of idleness and depression that said “I don’t want to right now” or “I don’t care” to “your disgusting” and “you deserve this”. 

I lived like this for years until one day someone in my family inadvertently introduced me to a group of non idle thinking people who loved God and cared about the growth and well being of others. These people taught me that the lack of idleness brings growth, and from growth comes leadership, and from the perspective of leadership you can see those struggling, and can offer them a new way of living filled with hope and purpose. 

I started seeking again, my journey to living a non-idle life didn’t happen over night and I fought it almost every step of every day. It so far has taken nearly 3 years and I still have SO much room for improvement and growth. If you are stuck in an idle life or you find yourself lost/unsure about what to do in the future, I would suggest to start by seeking the kingdom of God. I would suggest weeding out bad and negative influences and substitute them with positive, productive ones. Watch how your entertainment and social media effect your time and well being. Ask yourself “ is what I’m watching or listening to productive? Or null and useless? Be intentional about your actions and the words you use. Try putting values on things to decide if they are valuable  and productive to you and your family. I would suggest reading “Ordering Your Private World” by Gordon Macdonald and seek professional help if you are struggling with addiction, or other domestic issues. Having an accountability partner can also go a long way, having someone there that you trust and knows your intentions can help encourage you when you feel you aren’t staying on track.  

Basically, how you organize your private life will eventually end up affecting everything in your life. It’s hard to stay on track sometimes, but with a willing spirit and a will to be intentional, idleness is something worth combatting in you day to day life before it takes over it. 

May Gods peace and love be a lamp onto your feet, 

Jonah