Struggling With Entertainment: Fighting Laziness

I have struggled with TV entertainment for years now. Being a homemaker can be quite lonely and quite easy to fall into lazy habits of sitting around watching TV and letting things go. Especially with boys like mine. They are not constantly needing my attention. Seriously now that they are almost 6 and 2 1/2 they are requiring more of my time then they ever have! It was easy for me to say, "Go play in your room" while I sat and watched TV. Or they would be playing in the living room while I sat and watched. Since I'm careful what I watched it wasn't a big deal to have them in the same room.

Well God has convicted me of this more than once and I start doing better and then I fall back into the traps of TV and laziness takes over! Laziness is talked about in the Bible quite a few times! There are warnings after warning about falling into this trap. But it doesn't mean that I don't fall into the evil traps that are set before me.

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest -- then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

               Proverbs 6:6-11 

Now poverty hasn't taken us over yet because I have a husband that works really hard but my relationship with my children has suffered. I have also taught my boys to enjoy TV way more than I want them to. They ask for it all the time. They seem to not be able to go a day without it! I do not want to instill these behaviors in them. They may prefer being lazy than working hard and poverty will overtake them.

Here's a few more verses...

Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich. A wise youth harvests in the summer, but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.

               Proverbs 10:4-5

 Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.

               Proverbs 12:24

 The lazy person claims, "There's a lion in the road! Yes, I'm sure there's a loin out there!" As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed. Lazy people take food in their hand but don't even lift it to their mouth. Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.

               Proverbs 26:13-16

Man the beginning rings true here! Laziness brings on excuses! Why didn't the dishes get done? Why was school pushed off again today? Why didn't we make it to the library this week? Why didn't I get my Bible reading done? Enter excuse here. Most of the time I will say I was too busy. I had to much going on. Or my other go to excuse is that I was too tired. Most of the time I was too busy because I had wasted my time earlier that day watching TV so I had to rush to get things done later. Or I was up so late watching TV that I was to tired the next day to do anything except watch more TV and rest on the couch. Which turns into a vicious cycle! And admitting this all publicly is very hard to do.

But we have to take these warning to heart! These warnings are there because God knows that we will easily fall into these traps. Even before there was TV people were warned about being lazy. It's amazing how many luxury time saving items that I couldn't imagine having time to be lazy when you have to grow your own food, fetch your own water, wash clothes by hand, etc. They had so much more to do yet they were still warned not to be lazy.

So how do I stop being lazy and take these warnings seriously when I get caught in the trap once again?

1. First I have to acknowledge it. I have to admit to myself that I'm being lazy and not taking care of my responsibilities. 
2. This time I took it a step further and actually came clean to a trusted friend of mine who I know would love me through my weakness and help me strive to be better. 
3. Then I prayed. And prayed a lot. For strength to pull through the withdraws of TV entertainment and exhaustion. I relied heavily on the Lord. 
4. I read His word and got caught up on all my Bible reading. I finished almost all of Psalms in about a 2 weeks! Maybe less, I don't remember. But I had to do it! I had to rely on Him to get through and I needed to catch up so I wasn't neglecting my commitment to a close friend. 
5. I play worship music daily! Pandora and YouTube are always on in my house. I love Pandora's praise and worship station but the one that is helping me through this the most is Sing Over Me. It's amazing how uplifting it has been for me. I also have Hey Jesus Loves Me for a children's worship station because the boys love having "their music" on during the day too. Otherwise I was recommended Shane and Shane playlist on YouTube and it's an amazing list of songs! I use my tablet for this and make sure it's plugged in. The first day drained my battery. 
6. I keep my focus on what I want in front of me. I make sure I'm thinking about the mom I want to be, the wife I want to be and what God has called me to be. And that's not a blob in front of the TV. Keeping that moving forward focus is really helping. Even with Hubby home a lot I haven't been sucked into bad habits. I make choices each morning, throughout the day and at night to choose better options so I'm able to make it to the next thing that comes my way. Actually I need to be heading to bed soon otherwise I'm not going to be at my best tomorrow. 

Please know that if you are struggling with entertainment and the laziness that can come from it that you can push through to the other side. It's not easy! You will struggle through it but know God is right there with you. He's giving you strength when you are feeling weak. If you mess up that's OK just stop what you're doing, acknowledge it and move forward. Find someone that can help you. Someone you trust that can help you be accountable and encourage you to stick with your changes. You will see the benefits that come from the struggles. I can attest to that! I'm seeing amazing things happen in my life that I plan to share as a part of this series I'm writing. So stay tuned and see what's happening to me now that I'm free from the chains of laziness!

One last thing, this post from Why Be Merely Human really helped open my eyes to some things I had never thought of. So if you are struggling I suggest reading it as well. It will really help. They are some amazing people with a wealth of knowledge and Godly perspective.