Irresponsibility
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good–bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”–but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? (James 2:15-16, NLT2)
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion––how can God’s love be in that person? (1 John 3:17, NLT2)
God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law. (Proverbs 28:9, NLT2)
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your poor brother. (Deuteronomy 15:7, NIV)
Laziness
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. (Proverbs 12:24, NLT2)
Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry. (Proverbs 19:15, NLT2)
Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. (Romans 12:11, NLT2)
Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.(Proverbs 13:4, NLT2)
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, NLT2)
“Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, NLT2)
He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. (Proverbs 28:19, NIV)
The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. (2 Timothy 2:6, NASB95)
I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:30-34, NIV)
If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat! (Proverbs 20:13, NLT2)
A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright is an open highway. (Proverbs 15:19, NLT2)
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. (Proverbs 12:24, NLT2)
Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find. (Proverbs 12:27, NLT2)
A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things. (Proverbs 18:9, NLT2)
The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. (Proverbs 26:16, NKJV)
Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work. (Proverbs 21:25, NLT2)
Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes. (Proverbs 10:26, NLT2)
Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest. (Proverbs 20:4, NLT2)
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, NLT2)
Apathy
Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. (Romans 12:11, NLT2)
“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Revelations 3:15-16, NLT2)
Procrastination
He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62, NASB95)
For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, NLT2)
As the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 3:7-8, NIV)
Since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. (Hebrews 4:1-2, NIV)
So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7, NLT2)
Negligence
My sons, do not neglect your duties any longer! The LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him.” (2 Chronicles 29:11, NLT2)
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalm 119:16, NIV)
How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. (Hebrews 2:3, NASB95)
We will not neglect the house of our God. (Nehemiah 10:39, NKJV)
Disorderliness
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. (1 Corinthians 14:33, NIV)
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12:20, NIV)
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. (James 3:16, NASB95)
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6, NIV)
We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6, NKJV)
We hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. (2 Thessalonians 3:11, NKJV)
Diligence
Do not neglect your gift … Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. (1 Timothy 4:14-15, NIV)
God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. (Hebrews 6:10-11, NLT2)
Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23, NASB95)
As you abound in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us–see that you abound in this grace also. (2 Corinthians 8:7, NKJV)
Applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge. (2 Peter 1:5, NASB95)
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. (2 Peter 1:10, NLT2)
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. (Ecclesiastes 9:10, NASB95)
Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. (Romans 12:11, NLT2)
The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. (Proverbs 13:4, NIV)
The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced labor. (Proverbs 12:24, NASB95)
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (2 Chronicles 16:9, NIV)