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Speaker: We're gonna be in
the Book of Proverbs again.

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So if you need a worksheet,
you'll get a worksheet.

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If you got your Bible, you
can head over to Proverbs.

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But I'm gonna pray for us, um, and
we'll, we'll dive into God's word.

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So let's talk to God Father in heaven,
we are here because we need your wisdom.

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We're really bad at living life.

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Um, and sometimes we don't
wanna admit that, and that's

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part of our own foolishness.

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Part of the reason we're foolish is
because we don't think we need your help.

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And so I pray for anyone here who
thinks that they don't really need

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you, that they don't really need
to hear what you have to say, that

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what you call us to do is optional.

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I pray that they humble themselves, or I
pray that you humble them and show them

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how desperately we all need your wisdom.

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And we're not here because we're
trying to be better than other people.

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We're not here because we want to,
um, show off and, and be proud.

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We're here because we all need you.

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I need you, God.

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So I pray that you give us all
wisdom to live a life that matters,

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a life that, um, is fulfilling and
satisfying, um, your way and not our

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own, because our own way is really bad.

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So give us humility and give us a
desire to learn from you this evening.

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We pray this in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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All right, we are gonna be in Proverbs
chapter 13, starting in verse four, okay?

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We're gonna jump around a bit, but
we are gonna be in Proverbs 13,

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and we're gonna be talking about,
uh, about hard work and laziness.

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And, um, if you don't like bugs, you
might wanna close your eyes, okay?

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'Cause, uh, we're talking
about bugs right now.

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So this, for those of you who don't
know, is called an emerald cockroach

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wasp, which is one really cool
thing and two really bad things.

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Um, an emerald cockroach wasp.

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I think it's from Africa.

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Okay.

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And what it does is this thing, uh, kills
cockroaches, which might be a good thing.

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But this wasp, what it does is it, um…

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So it breeds using cockroaches.

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So it puts its egg inside of a cockroach,
and then the egg eats the cockroach from

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the inside, and that's how it, how it
comes out, which is really, really gross.

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Um, but what this thing does is the,
the female wasp, it'll sting the roach.

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So it lands on the roach
and stings it once.

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First time, it immobilizes
its legs, which is kinda wild.

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Then what it does is it
injects, like, what they call

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neurotoxins, uh, into its brain.

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So it, like, poisons
the cockroach's brain.

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And so then the cockroach
doesn't wanna run away anymore

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because it's changed its, like…

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It's put, it's poisoned its
brain, so now the cockroach is,

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like, super relaxed and calm.

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You know, like when they need to
put you under for, like, surgery

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or something, they, like, kinda
just make you really chill.

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It does that to the cockroach, and
then the cockroach is, like, super

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chill, and then the wasp injects its
babies into the cockroach, and that's

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how it happens, which is super gross.

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But the whole point, right,
is the cockroach doesn't mind.

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The cockroach is, like, super chill.

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The cockroach is like, "Yeah, just inject
your larva into me, and I will just

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chill right here while you do that Right?

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The cockroach has been tricked
into thinking that this is

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totally fine, not a big deal.

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But really what's gonna
happen is it's gonna die.

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The cockroach is gonna get eaten
alive from the inside by this thing's

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kids, which is horrifying, right?

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Um, and that's super disgusting,
but the whole point is you and I are

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kinda like cockroaches sometimes.

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That's definitely why you came to
True North tonight, to hear that.

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Um, because there's something really
subtle that tricks us into thinking

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everything's okay, but really it kills
us from the inside, and that's laziness.

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Right?

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Laziness doesn't feel
like a big deal, right?

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If, if you were gonna name, oh, what are
like the worst sins someone could do?

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Or what's the easy…

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Like, well, last week we talked
about one of the easiest ways

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for someone to ruin their life.

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You wouldn't say being lazy
is like top three, right?

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You would maybe put, I don't
know, greed or lust or selfishness

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or something like that, right?

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You wouldn't put laziness
high up on that list.

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And that's the point.

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Laziness, it, it seems chill.

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It literally is chill, right?

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You're not doing anything.

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But what it does is it slowly
and very peacefully kills you.

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That's what laziness does, much like
our emerald cockroach wasp friend here.

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Laziness is a slow killer.

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So Proverbs 13:4 is where we're
gonna start, and we're gonna learn

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what makes laziness so deadly, okay?

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So Proverbs 13 verse 4.

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If you're not there, I'll
have it on the screen for you.

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"The soul of the sluggard…"

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Sluggard, that's like
a lazy person, right?

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Um, "The soul of the sluggard craves
and gets nothing, while the soul of the

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diligent," someone who works hard, who's,
who, who does their things methodically

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and, and very thoughtfully, right?

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They are richly supplied.

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They've got everything they need, right?

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So the person who's lazy,
they want a lot of stuff.

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They crave it.

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They're like, "Oh, I wish I
could be really good at this.

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I wish I was more like this.

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I wish I could have that."

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But they don't get it, 'cause they
just sit there and do nothing.

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Right?

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They have all these dreams,
all these desires, all these

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wants, and they can't get them.

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But the person who works hard,
they have what they need.

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And maybe you're thinking, "What
does this have to do with Jesus?

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What does it have to do
with being a Christian?"

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Well, God has set up his world where
hard work is a, the best way to live.

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Working hard is good for you.

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Working hard doesn't just s- see,
notice it doesn't say it supplies

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your body, supplies your soul.

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Your soul's gonna live forever.

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Your body is gonna die.

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Hard work is not just good for
succeeding in life and making money and

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getting into a good school and getting
good grades and being good at your

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sport, being good at your instrument.

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Hard work is good for your soul.

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It makes your s- you the type
of person who glorifies God.

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Hard work good for your
soul, not just your body.

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If you wanna put this verse in, uh,
four words, here's how I did it.

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Lazies lose, workers win.

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I don't know if lazies is a
word, but it is now, okay?

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I'm doing my best Shakespeare
impression and making up words.

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Lazies lose, workers win, right?

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That's all y- all you need
to take away from there.

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God's wisdom, that's the
whole point of Proverbs.

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Proverbs is God's way of life.

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How, how does God say we should live?

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God's wisdom shows us that hard work and
self-discipline are the path to happiness,

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while laziness is the path to death.

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And remember, Proverbs,
everything's life or death.

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There's not like, oh, you can
just be kinda lazy and okay.

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Everything is a path, you're going towards
life or you're going towards destruction.

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One of two ways.

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And laziness is the path to destruction.

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Hard work is the path to life.

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But first where we wanna start, Proverbs,
right, we talked about wisdom is a heart

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issue and foolishness is a heart issue.

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So let's start with the heart.

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First thing we're gonna look
at is recognize what your

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work says about your heart.

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Recognize, right?

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Rem- think about it.

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Okay, what does my work
say about my heart?

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What does my work say about my heart?

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I don't know if you've seen
these recently, but I have…

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I don't know even know if they're new.

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They might not even be new,
'cause I'm old, and so I don't

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know what's new and what's not.

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But you know those, like, statements
that people try to make sound like

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really profound but they're not?

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Super cool.

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I'll give you an example.

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Like, uh, "Don't live for the
weekend, weekend your life."

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Right?

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Uh, 'cause you- people say, "Oh, yeah,
like, live for the weekend, you know,

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just work really hard on weeks so you can
do whatever you want on the weekends."

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They're like, "No, you shouldn't do that.

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Instead, you should just make
your whole life a weekend."

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Right?

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So, "Don't weekend your, your
living, weekend your life," or,

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uh, "Don't grow your comfort
zone, comfort your growth zone."

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Right?

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I don't even know what that
means, but it sounds interesting.

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Um, "Don't think outside the
box, box outside the think."

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Maybe, maybe that one's something
that you, you think would be good.

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Um, "Don't make memories to remember
life, live life to remember memories."

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That was another one I saw.

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Um, but the- the- the most
significant one, the- the- the-

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the featured one is always, "Don't
love your job, job your love."

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Right?

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Which essentially is the- the spin-off
of, uh, if you fi- if you work at

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something that, like, is really your
passion, that you love, you won't

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actually feel like you're working, right?

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If you do something for your job
that you, you think is really cool,

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you're like, "This is awesome.

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I love this," it doesn't feel like work.

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Because you're like, "Oh, this is fun.

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I enjoy this."

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Right?

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That's the whole point.

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Don't…

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Right?

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If you- if you love your job,
it's not gonna feel like a job.

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You're gonna be like,
"Oh, this is just great.

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I love doing this."

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There's even in the-the secular
world, the non-Christian world,

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they know that there's a connection
between work and your heart.

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Because if your heart is in
your work, it doesn't feel as

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much like work anymore, right?

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Because work, what you work at, is
actually an expression of your heart.

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What you put your effort into is
really like a value statement.

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What's important to you?

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Well, what do you put your effort into?

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What do you think about?

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What do you try really hard to do?

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What do you want to get?

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What do you spend your, your
blood, your sweat, your tears on?

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Your hours, your money.

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That's a value statement, right?

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So your work is really showing your heart.

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If you don't work hard at
something, that shows you that

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you don't really care, right?

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If you don't think something's important,
you're not gonna work very hard at it.

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So your work shows what you value.

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And that means that to be a hard
worker, it comes from within, right?

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People can force you to work hard
temporarily, but as soon as you're on your

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own, you're not gonna work hard anymore.

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If you're really a lazy person,
that'll come out from the inside.

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If you're a hard worker, that'll also come
out from the inside, and we see that here.

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We talk about more bugs in Proverbs 6.

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You don't have to turn there.

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I've got it on the screen for you.

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But he sa- he's talking to lazy people.

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He says, "Go to the ant, O sluggard.

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Consider her ways and be wise."

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So you can learn a lot of
wise things from an ant.

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That's what he's saying.

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"Without having any chief officer or
ruler," right, there's no supervisor

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supervising the ants, right?

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No one's like, "All right,
you clocked in at, at 8:00.

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Uh, make sure you finish all your work
by 5:00, and then I'll let you go."

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Right?

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There's no one saying,
"Oh, do your homework.

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Make sure you finish."

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Right?

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There's no, there's n- none of that.

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No one's doing that for an ant.

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"She prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest."

231
00:10:25,282 --> 00:10:25,402
Right?

232
00:10:25,402 --> 00:10:27,751
Ants are always doing
stuff that's productive.

233
00:10:28,091 --> 00:10:29,151
They're always, they're working hard.

234
00:10:29,151 --> 00:10:29,682
They're doing things.

235
00:10:29,682 --> 00:10:30,271
They're building things.

236
00:10:30,271 --> 00:10:30,942
They're killing things.

237
00:10:30,942 --> 00:10:32,101
They're bringing food back.

238
00:10:32,102 --> 00:10:34,992
They're, they're always working, and
no one's telling them to work because

239
00:10:34,992 --> 00:10:37,942
they have this inner drive, the way
God designed them, to work hard.

240
00:10:39,301 --> 00:10:41,101
Work has to come from within.

241
00:10:41,771 --> 00:10:45,642
That's what this proverb is teaching
us, that work is a heart issue.

242
00:10:45,901 --> 00:10:49,001
Whether you wanna work hard
or not, self-discipline is not

243
00:10:49,001 --> 00:10:50,290
about you trying really hard.

244
00:10:50,492 --> 00:10:52,561
It's not about you having
a bunch of life hacks.

245
00:10:52,742 --> 00:10:55,040
It's not about you reading a bunch
of good books or, or listening to

246
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,621
this cool podcast that'll teach you
three ways to be more productive.

247
00:10:57,621 --> 00:11:01,602
Those, those are helpful, but really
hard work comes from your heart.

248
00:11:02,922 --> 00:11:05,481
It comes from what you think is important

249
00:11:07,822 --> 00:11:11,432
So your work and your lack, or your
lack of work, right, your laziness,

250
00:11:11,812 --> 00:11:13,472
shows really your allegiance.

251
00:11:14,692 --> 00:11:16,042
Who is important to you?

252
00:11:16,042 --> 00:11:16,722
Not just what.

253
00:11:17,892 --> 00:11:21,072
If you're a Christian, your work
should show your allegiance.

254
00:11:21,522 --> 00:11:24,072
Your work should show, I
think God is most important.

255
00:11:25,072 --> 00:11:28,752
Whether it's your schoolwork, your
actual job, your sports, your instrument,

256
00:11:28,752 --> 00:11:31,982
your activities, hobbies even.

257
00:11:32,611 --> 00:11:36,472
What you work at is gonna show
you where your allegiance is.

258
00:11:36,521 --> 00:11:38,142
Is my allegiance with King Jesus?

259
00:11:39,202 --> 00:11:40,412
Do I think he's important?

260
00:11:41,022 --> 00:11:44,511
Well, look at what you put your effort
into, 'cause that's where your heart

261
00:11:45,281 --> 00:11:48,321
is telling you what's important, right?

262
00:11:49,971 --> 00:11:52,601
So your heart is reflected in your work.

263
00:11:54,201 --> 00:11:57,421
Something else that work shows
about your heart is actually

264
00:11:57,741 --> 00:11:59,781
that laziness is prideful.

265
00:11:59,831 --> 00:12:02,472
Maybe you've never made this connection
before, but our proverb here does it.

266
00:12:02,472 --> 00:12:07,492
Proverbs 26:16 says, "The sluggard
is wiser in his own eyes than

267
00:12:07,502 --> 00:12:08,992
seven men who can answer sensibly."

268
00:12:08,992 --> 00:12:12,861
So the s- the, the sluggard, right, the
person who's lazy, he thinks he's smarter

269
00:12:13,152 --> 00:12:14,851
than a group of really smart people

270
00:12:17,774 --> 00:12:23,544
If you notice, laziness, one of
the people's favorite excuses when

271
00:12:23,544 --> 00:12:25,304
you're lazy, when you and I are
lazy, one of our favorite excuses

272
00:12:25,304 --> 00:12:26,624
is, "Well, you don't understand."

273
00:12:27,304 --> 00:12:27,544
Right?

274
00:12:27,544 --> 00:12:28,614
"You don't really know.

275
00:12:29,924 --> 00:12:33,924
Uh, I, I would have gotten
this done, but you don't really

276
00:12:33,924 --> 00:12:35,194
know what my circumstances are.

277
00:12:35,204 --> 00:12:36,754
You don't really know what
happened, or you don't know…

278
00:12:36,764 --> 00:12:39,454
I mean, you don't know what my teacher's
really like, or you don't know, like,

279
00:12:39,454 --> 00:12:40,773
math isn't the way it used to be."

280
00:12:40,833 --> 00:12:41,073
Right?

281
00:12:41,073 --> 00:12:41,464
Like Mr.

282
00:12:41,464 --> 00:12:42,044
Incredible, right?

283
00:12:42,044 --> 00:12:43,174
The math's not mathing, right?

284
00:12:43,833 --> 00:12:45,594
Only the, like, only Matt got that.

285
00:12:45,623 --> 00:12:46,073
That's fine.

286
00:12:46,384 --> 00:12:46,753
Um.

287
00:12:47,614 --> 00:12:48,064
Great.

288
00:12:48,983 --> 00:12:56,324
Um, laziness usually mean, is, is
an assumption that, well, I'm better

289
00:12:56,324 --> 00:12:57,733
than this, so I don't have to do that.

290
00:12:58,774 --> 00:12:59,814
I'm too good for this.

291
00:13:00,853 --> 00:13:02,103
This isn't worth my time.

292
00:13:02,894 --> 00:13:03,833
See how prideful that is?

293
00:13:04,464 --> 00:13:05,363
I'm above this.

294
00:13:05,623 --> 00:13:06,533
I'm better than this.

295
00:13:07,254 --> 00:13:11,033
Or this person that I'm trying
to work for doesn't deserve it.

296
00:13:12,263 --> 00:13:14,103
My boss is, they don't
deserve my hard work.

297
00:13:14,173 --> 00:13:16,424
My parents don't deserve
my hard work at my chores.

298
00:13:17,243 --> 00:13:19,414
That's what really, that's one of the
things you're saying when you're lazy.

299
00:13:19,414 --> 00:13:21,064
You're saying, "I'm too
important to do this."

300
00:13:22,213 --> 00:13:24,653
Or sometimes what you're saying is,
"Well, you don't, if, if you knew

301
00:13:24,653 --> 00:13:28,914
what my life was really like, you
would understand why I'm lazy."

302
00:13:29,983 --> 00:13:31,853
That's you saying, "Look how smart I am."

303
00:13:33,713 --> 00:13:35,604
And sometimes when people tell
us, "Hey, I think you need to

304
00:13:35,604 --> 00:13:40,004
work harder," we get mad at them
because we're being prideful, right?

305
00:13:40,004 --> 00:13:41,293
We're saying, "Well, you, you don't know.

306
00:13:42,204 --> 00:13:43,013
You don't know what it's like."

307
00:13:43,013 --> 00:13:44,764
That's us being, usually being prideful.

308
00:13:45,384 --> 00:13:46,883
That's not them being demanding.

309
00:13:47,033 --> 00:13:50,013
Sometimes it is, but the first
thing you should do is not

310
00:13:50,013 --> 00:13:51,363
say, "Oh, you're demanding.

311
00:13:51,363 --> 00:13:52,653
Just stop, stop asking me to do stuff."

312
00:13:53,494 --> 00:13:55,143
The first thing you should
say is, "Am I being prideful?

313
00:13:56,244 --> 00:13:57,943
Am I being wise in my own eyes?

314
00:13:59,193 --> 00:14:00,484
Or is this person maybe right?"

315
00:14:03,438 --> 00:14:05,698
So think about what does
my laziness say about God?

316
00:14:06,828 --> 00:14:09,458
Does my laziness show God I
don't think you're important?

317
00:14:09,978 --> 00:14:11,118
'Cause that's being prideful, right?

318
00:14:12,608 --> 00:14:15,558
If, if reading the Bible's hard for
you and you just don't do it 'cause

319
00:14:15,558 --> 00:14:19,488
you don't feel like it, or you don't
wanna make the time to do it before

320
00:14:20,147 --> 00:14:23,878
maybe you need to go do your other
things, that's you saying, "God, my

321
00:14:23,878 --> 00:14:25,108
sleep is more important than you."

322
00:14:26,068 --> 00:14:28,728
Or maybe you stayed up too late
the night before scrolling on

323
00:14:28,728 --> 00:14:30,737
your phone or watching a movie.

324
00:14:31,448 --> 00:14:33,798
That's you saying, "That was
more important than you, God."

325
00:14:36,406 --> 00:14:38,636
Or you don't make time to pray, right?

326
00:14:38,646 --> 00:14:40,766
You, you say, "Oh, it's too hard
for me to focus when I pray,"

327
00:14:41,576 --> 00:14:42,606
but you're not really trying.

328
00:14:44,226 --> 00:14:45,306
That's you saying, "God, you're…

329
00:14:45,316 --> 00:14:47,956
Y- I'm, I'm way more important than you.

330
00:14:48,016 --> 00:14:48,266
My…

331
00:14:48,276 --> 00:14:49,536
You're not worth my focus."

332
00:14:50,466 --> 00:14:51,936
That's so prideful when we say that.

333
00:14:52,526 --> 00:14:54,796
Or think about what
laziness says about others.

334
00:14:56,326 --> 00:15:01,276
Laziness is really very unloving because
no one really wants a lazy person, right?

335
00:15:01,276 --> 00:15:03,516
You don't want a lazy friend,
especially on a group project, right?

336
00:15:03,656 --> 00:15:04,736
You don't want a lazy teammate.

337
00:15:04,936 --> 00:15:08,866
You don't want a, a, a lazy, you
know, group member in, like, your,

338
00:15:08,875 --> 00:15:10,916
your instruments or on your team
or anything like that, right?

339
00:15:10,936 --> 00:15:12,816
You don't want a lazy person.

340
00:15:13,146 --> 00:15:14,706
It's really unloving to be lazy.

341
00:15:15,016 --> 00:15:19,736
Proverbs 10:26 says, "A lazy person
is like vinegar to the teeth."

342
00:15:19,736 --> 00:15:21,526
Anyone here drink vinegar before?

343
00:15:22,796 --> 00:15:24,395
Not a pleasant experience, right?

344
00:15:25,416 --> 00:15:27,155
That's what a lazy person's like.

345
00:15:27,986 --> 00:15:29,476
Or smoke to the eyes, right?

346
00:15:29,476 --> 00:15:32,566
You're ever at the, at the campfire
and the wind just blows all the

347
00:15:32,566 --> 00:15:34,905
smoke straight into your face
and you start crying immediately?

348
00:15:36,506 --> 00:15:38,736
That's what a, a lazy person is like.

349
00:15:39,306 --> 00:15:40,335
That's what God says.

350
00:15:41,186 --> 00:15:43,566
It's so unloving to be lazy.

351
00:15:44,665 --> 00:15:47,115
And really, the reason we're lazy is
because we're only thinking about us.

352
00:15:47,406 --> 00:15:50,155
We're not thinking about, oh, how is
my laziness affecting other people?

353
00:15:53,056 --> 00:15:57,856
How does my lack of effort hurt
the team or maybe it's how is my

354
00:15:57,856 --> 00:16:00,226
lack of effort hurting my family?

355
00:16:01,196 --> 00:16:02,816
Because especially in your house,
if you don't do the chores,

356
00:16:02,826 --> 00:16:03,806
someone else has to do it, right?

357
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,820
How is my laziness affecting
my parents or my siblings?

358
00:16:10,770 --> 00:16:12,300
And maybe you think, "Well,
it's m- they're the parents,

359
00:16:12,310 --> 00:16:13,110
it's their job to do it."

360
00:16:14,380 --> 00:16:16,900
That's you being wise in
your own eyes, saying, "Well,

361
00:16:16,900 --> 00:16:17,800
I'm smarter than my parents.

362
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:18,260
I don't need to do it.

363
00:16:18,260 --> 00:16:18,690
I'm a kid.

364
00:16:18,690 --> 00:16:19,540
I'm more important than them.

365
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:20,800
My time's more important than them.

366
00:16:21,290 --> 00:16:22,930
My entertainment is more
important than them."

367
00:16:25,134 --> 00:16:27,974
So laziness says a lot about your
heart, and so does hard work.

368
00:16:28,254 --> 00:16:31,474
What you work hard at shows you
what's important to you, right?

369
00:16:31,614 --> 00:16:33,814
If you think God is really important,
you're gonna say, "You know what?

370
00:16:34,014 --> 00:16:37,024
I don't understand all the things that are
happening in the Bible, but I wanna learn.

371
00:16:37,544 --> 00:16:40,454
I'm gonna try to understand
maybe 5% of what I read.

372
00:16:40,934 --> 00:16:44,574
I'm gonna try really hard and take
away what I can, and then next time,

373
00:16:44,754 --> 00:16:45,674
I'm gonna get a little bit more.

374
00:16:45,674 --> 00:16:47,284
Maybe I'll get 6% of what I read."

375
00:16:48,524 --> 00:16:50,534
You work hard at that 'cause
you say, "God's important."

376
00:16:52,084 --> 00:16:54,574
Or, "I, I can only pray
for two minutes and focus."

377
00:16:54,584 --> 00:16:54,904
Great.

378
00:16:55,684 --> 00:16:59,954
Give God your best two minutes, and
then the next day try to give him three.

379
00:17:00,794 --> 00:17:04,042
Work hard at it, 'cause that shows
God, "I think you're important."

380
00:17:04,993 --> 00:17:07,834
If you just say, "Oh, it's too
hard, I'm not gonna do it," that's

381
00:17:07,834 --> 00:17:09,243
showing God you're not worth it.

382
00:17:09,864 --> 00:17:10,723
You're not worth my effort.

383
00:17:12,673 --> 00:17:15,743
And that shows that your heart doesn't
think God is very important either, right?

384
00:17:16,844 --> 00:17:19,272
So your work really reveals your heart

385
00:17:21,422 --> 00:17:25,311
And so really the way to change your work
ethic is to change your heart, right?

386
00:17:25,662 --> 00:17:31,712
You need to change your, your desires,
your loves, your appetites, 'cause

387
00:17:31,712 --> 00:17:33,032
that will change your hard work, right?

388
00:17:33,032 --> 00:17:34,242
You don't change outside in.

389
00:17:35,582 --> 00:17:38,042
That's sometimes helpful to,
okay, I gotta get new habits,

390
00:17:38,042 --> 00:17:39,212
I gotta figure out new plans.

391
00:17:39,432 --> 00:17:42,752
But really it's just, it's, it's about
whether you want to or whether you don't.

392
00:17:43,032 --> 00:17:45,022
'Cause if you really want to,
you figure out ways to do it.

393
00:17:45,852 --> 00:17:46,852
If you really wanna do something…

394
00:17:46,852 --> 00:17:49,362
I had a, I had a pastor who was
really annoying, but whenever I

395
00:17:49,362 --> 00:17:52,001
would tell him, like, "Hey, I really
wanna do this thing, I just can't

396
00:17:52,002 --> 00:17:54,662
right now," he'd be like, "Well, if
you really wanted to, you would."

397
00:17:56,562 --> 00:17:58,072
Which is super annoying, but really true.

398
00:17:59,062 --> 00:18:01,272
The things you really wanna
do, you make 'em happen.

399
00:18:02,562 --> 00:18:04,972
The things you kinda wanna do,
you sometimes make 'em happen.

400
00:18:06,591 --> 00:18:10,771
But you always make time for the things
that you think are most important, right?

401
00:18:10,852 --> 00:18:14,541
You always make time to eat, 'cause
if you don't, you'll die, right?

402
00:18:15,501 --> 00:18:16,641
'Cause that's really important to you.

403
00:18:18,292 --> 00:18:20,932
So really you need heart change, right?

404
00:18:20,932 --> 00:18:24,601
Discipline and self-control and all
these things is really trusting God.

405
00:18:25,161 --> 00:18:25,602
You know what?

406
00:18:25,621 --> 00:18:30,262
Maybe I don't wanna do this, or maybe
this is really hard for me, but I trust

407
00:18:30,572 --> 00:18:34,142
God, your way is better for me, so I'm
gonna work really hard at it, even though

408
00:18:34,142 --> 00:18:35,771
it doesn't come naturally to me maybe.

409
00:18:36,331 --> 00:18:39,681
Maybe loving this person doesn't come
naturally to me, maybe we don't really

410
00:18:39,681 --> 00:18:44,092
have a lot in common, but I'm gonna
love them and work hard to love them

411
00:18:45,011 --> 00:18:49,072
because I'm trusting God that, you
know, you loved me first, and I wanna

412
00:18:49,072 --> 00:18:50,372
love others like you've loved me.

413
00:18:50,962 --> 00:18:55,981
And you recognize I'm really hard to love
and God still loves me, so I'm gonna work

414
00:18:55,981 --> 00:18:57,491
hard to love these other people, too.

415
00:18:59,492 --> 00:19:03,801
So to change your discipline and change
your self-control and your laziness, you

416
00:19:03,801 --> 00:19:05,382
really need to start with your heart.

417
00:19:07,132 --> 00:19:10,551
And really all of the change
happens little by little.

418
00:19:11,782 --> 00:19:11,902
Right?

419
00:19:11,962 --> 00:19:16,181
All the change in your life do-
usually doesn't happen big moments.

420
00:19:16,341 --> 00:19:19,561
It's not like, oh, this little thing
happened, and boom, my whole life changed.

421
00:19:19,562 --> 00:19:24,571
Usually y- you become the person you
are moment by moment, decision by

422
00:19:24,571 --> 00:19:27,401
decision, and that's something that
we see in the Book of Proverbs 2.

423
00:19:27,431 --> 00:19:32,341
So our point number two is respect
the power of little by little.

424
00:19:33,392 --> 00:19:36,872
Respect the power of little by little

425
00:19:39,158 --> 00:19:42,418
I almost put this as respect the
power of a little, but if Josh

426
00:19:42,418 --> 00:19:46,168
and Caleb were here, didn't wanna
make things confusing for them.

427
00:19:46,858 --> 00:19:47,238
Um

428
00:19:49,558 --> 00:19:51,808
Anyway, respect the
power of little by little

429
00:20:01,774 --> 00:20:02,624
So no one…

430
00:20:04,194 --> 00:20:05,574
If you see, if you notice this, right?

431
00:20:05,584 --> 00:20:08,424
The, the opposite of the sluggard
is someone who's diligent.

432
00:20:09,544 --> 00:20:09,734
Right?

433
00:20:09,734 --> 00:20:13,284
When you think of someone who's
diligent, you don't think of someone

434
00:20:13,284 --> 00:20:15,554
who does something once, and then
they're like, "All right, cool.

435
00:20:16,984 --> 00:20:17,414
I did it.

436
00:20:17,534 --> 00:20:17,964
I'm done.

437
00:20:18,114 --> 00:20:18,854
Don't have to do that anymore."

438
00:20:18,864 --> 00:20:18,894
Right?

439
00:20:19,934 --> 00:20:23,084
If you think of someone who's diligent,
you think of someone who's working a lot,

440
00:20:23,094 --> 00:20:26,354
who's consistently working, who spends
a lot of time doing something, a lot

441
00:20:26,354 --> 00:20:28,244
of effort over a long period of time.

442
00:20:29,464 --> 00:20:29,634
Right?

443
00:20:29,634 --> 00:20:30,724
That's diligent work.

444
00:20:32,274 --> 00:20:37,784
No one becomes wise, no one becomes a hard
worker just because they did something

445
00:20:37,784 --> 00:20:39,374
once, and then now they're a hard worker.

446
00:20:40,344 --> 00:20:40,444
Right?

447
00:20:40,464 --> 00:20:43,343
Being a hard worker is something
you grow little by little in.

448
00:20:44,234 --> 00:20:50,613
But also, being lazy is something you
become little by little by little.

449
00:20:50,634 --> 00:20:53,234
Uh, we talked about this
at the beginning, right?

450
00:20:53,394 --> 00:20:55,823
Where laziness feels good
and, and it kills you.

451
00:20:56,563 --> 00:20:59,733
Um, but laziness, that's, that's
what makes it so dangerous, right?

452
00:20:59,734 --> 00:21:00,793
Is it's little by little.

453
00:21:00,824 --> 00:21:04,574
It's not, oh, one moment I decided to
wake up and be the laziest person I know.

454
00:21:05,723 --> 00:21:05,893
Right?

455
00:21:05,893 --> 00:21:07,564
No one becomes a sluggard overnight.

456
00:21:09,484 --> 00:21:09,864
It's…

457
00:21:10,083 --> 00:21:11,994
Laziness is a lot like
one of these things.

458
00:21:13,723 --> 00:21:13,883
Right?

459
00:21:13,884 --> 00:21:15,053
These boa constrictor guys.

460
00:21:15,054 --> 00:21:17,233
I'm bringing out all the
ugly animals for this.

461
00:21:17,263 --> 00:21:22,484
Um, I learned this about
constriction this week.

462
00:21:22,954 --> 00:21:29,533
Um, I used to think that you would
suffocate, right, if a giant snake,

463
00:21:29,543 --> 00:21:31,433
you know, like constricted you.

464
00:21:31,503 --> 00:21:33,213
I used to think you died by suffocation.

465
00:21:33,924 --> 00:21:35,033
Not true, actually.

466
00:21:35,963 --> 00:21:38,843
The way that this animal is
dying, whatever this animal is,

467
00:21:38,853 --> 00:21:40,604
I think it's a mouse or a rat.

468
00:21:40,804 --> 00:21:44,774
The way it's dying is
every time it breathes-

469
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,980
Out or in?

470
00:21:48,990 --> 00:21:49,010
Out.

471
00:21:50,530 --> 00:21:52,290
Out, 'cause it gets smaller
when it breathes out, right?

472
00:21:52,790 --> 00:21:56,290
Every time it breathes out, the
snake gets a little bit tighter

473
00:21:58,838 --> 00:22:01,558
And so it gets lit like
centimeter by centimeter.

474
00:22:01,888 --> 00:22:05,278
The snake, every time it breathes,
gets a little tighter, a little

475
00:22:05,278 --> 00:22:10,458
tighter, a little tighter, and
then its organs stop getting blood.

476
00:22:11,598 --> 00:22:13,298
So it really stops the blood flow.

477
00:22:13,388 --> 00:22:16,618
It doesn't stop it from
breathing, and that's how it dies.

478
00:22:17,098 --> 00:22:23,858
But one breath's worth of
squeezing doesn't hurt it, right?

479
00:22:24,418 --> 00:22:27,748
It, it's kinda like, you know, the,
the air, the, how they take your blood

480
00:22:27,748 --> 00:22:31,527
pressure at the doctor, where they
fill that thing full of air, right?

481
00:22:31,778 --> 00:22:33,188
And it kinda feels good at first.

482
00:22:33,598 --> 00:22:37,038
I'm always scared that like, what if they
keep going and it, like, destroys my arm?

483
00:22:37,048 --> 00:22:37,558
Like, what if they…

484
00:22:38,158 --> 00:22:40,148
Uh, now you're gonna be scared
of that if it happens to you.

485
00:22:40,388 --> 00:22:42,888
Um, but if, it kinda feels good at first.

486
00:22:42,888 --> 00:22:43,768
You're like, "Oh, I like it."

487
00:22:43,807 --> 00:22:45,027
Like it's, it feels good.

488
00:22:45,028 --> 00:22:45,398
I don't know.

489
00:22:45,398 --> 00:22:46,167
I, I enjoy it.

490
00:22:46,278 --> 00:22:46,937
Maybe I'm weird.

491
00:22:47,197 --> 00:22:49,788
I kind of enjoy when they start,
like, filling that thing up and you

492
00:22:49,788 --> 00:22:51,088
can feel the pressure on your arm.

493
00:22:51,728 --> 00:22:56,208
And similar, right, laziness
feels good at first.

494
00:22:56,868 --> 00:22:59,037
If you think about it,
this starts as a hug

495
00:23:01,358 --> 00:23:05,188
This starts as a hug but
then the hug doesn't stop.

496
00:23:05,918 --> 00:23:06,258
Right?

497
00:23:06,268 --> 00:23:09,518
The hug gets tighter and tighter
and tighter and tighter, but each

498
00:23:09,558 --> 00:23:12,098
movement doesn't do anything really.

499
00:23:12,098 --> 00:23:13,018
It barely does anything.

500
00:23:13,228 --> 00:23:13,418
Right?

501
00:23:13,418 --> 00:23:16,898
If you think about how much, when
you breathe, how much you, you can

502
00:23:17,158 --> 00:23:18,548
push in, it's really not that much

503
00:23:20,982 --> 00:23:27,592
Each individual moment you decide
to be lazy doesn't really hurt in

504
00:23:27,592 --> 00:23:31,102
the moment, and sometimes you don't
even notice that you're being lazy.

505
00:23:32,932 --> 00:23:38,292
But slowly, laziness, little by little,
moment by moment, choice by choice,

506
00:23:38,682 --> 00:23:42,152
distraction by distraction, right?

507
00:23:42,232 --> 00:23:46,912
Quit by quit, every time you, you
quit, you give up too early, it

508
00:23:46,972 --> 00:23:48,982
constricts you, and it will kill you.

509
00:23:49,622 --> 00:23:53,522
That's what Proverbs 24 says, "A little
sleep, a little slumber, a little

510
00:23:53,532 --> 00:23:57,461
folding of the hands to rest, and
poverty will come upon you like a robber,

511
00:23:57,872 --> 00:23:59,761
and want," not having stuff, right?

512
00:23:59,762 --> 00:24:01,982
Wanting things, "like an armed man."

513
00:24:03,562 --> 00:24:05,111
This happens little by little.

514
00:24:06,271 --> 00:24:10,262
That's the danger of laziness, is
it happens a little bit at a time.

515
00:24:10,681 --> 00:24:14,252
You are slowly becoming the
product of all of your decisions.

516
00:24:14,911 --> 00:24:18,012
Every time you, you make a decision, you
make thousands of decisions every day.

517
00:24:18,782 --> 00:24:19,162
You're…

518
00:24:19,271 --> 00:24:20,781
It's almost like you're casting a vote.

519
00:24:20,821 --> 00:24:22,182
Who do I wanna be tomorrow?

520
00:24:23,132 --> 00:24:25,861
Do I wanna be a lazy person
or a hardworking person?

521
00:24:26,912 --> 00:24:30,721
Every time you decide to focus when you
are tempted to get distracted, every time

522
00:24:30,722 --> 00:24:33,502
you decide to do something hard that you
don't really wanna do but you know is good

523
00:24:33,502 --> 00:24:37,781
for you, you're casting a vote saying, "I
wanna be a hardworking person tomorrow."

524
00:24:38,972 --> 00:24:42,251
And you become that little by little.

525
00:24:43,241 --> 00:24:46,251
But every time you, you check your phone
when you're supposed to be working, every

526
00:24:46,251 --> 00:24:49,871
time you think your boss isn't looking
or your parents aren't there, and so you

527
00:24:49,872 --> 00:24:51,631
go really slow when you're doing work.

528
00:24:52,211 --> 00:24:55,891
Every time you, you do the little things,
the little compromises, oh, I, I…

529
00:24:55,931 --> 00:24:58,612
You can cut the corner on, on when
you're running laps, or you, you,

530
00:24:58,612 --> 00:25:02,242
you take a rep off the, the, the
amount you're supposed to do, right?

531
00:25:02,482 --> 00:25:08,761
Those are all ways that you, little
by little, become a lazy person.

532
00:25:09,652 --> 00:25:14,951
And the one rep didn't kill you, but
it made it easier for you to, to do

533
00:25:14,951 --> 00:25:20,342
one less the next time, and it made
it easier for you to get distracted

534
00:25:20,342 --> 00:25:23,871
when you should've been focusing that
other time, and it made it easier for

535
00:25:23,872 --> 00:25:30,921
you to go and go and go and go, and
then suddenly, right, your organs stop

536
00:25:30,921 --> 00:25:32,662
working 'cause your blood stopped, right?

537
00:25:32,772 --> 00:25:33,921
But it went little by little

538
00:25:38,038 --> 00:25:41,568
Every time you make an excuse and believe
it and convince yourself, "Yeah, you

539
00:25:41,568 --> 00:25:42,828
know, I didn't really need to do that.

540
00:25:43,868 --> 00:25:46,228
That wasn't really that
important," or, "It's okay.

541
00:25:46,228 --> 00:25:46,898
It, it's fine.

542
00:25:46,908 --> 00:25:47,738
I was too tired.

543
00:25:47,738 --> 00:25:50,497
I didn't have to do that," or,
"They just really made me angry,

544
00:25:50,498 --> 00:25:51,748
and I just needed to take that off."

545
00:25:52,758 --> 00:25:57,207
Every time you believe something
like that, you're slowly, little

546
00:25:57,207 --> 00:25:58,938
by little, becoming a slugger

547
00:26:03,670 --> 00:26:09,380
Laziness produces destruction, but
it does it very happily, right?

548
00:26:09,490 --> 00:26:12,290
Laziness makes you very
willingly go to your death.

549
00:26:13,660 --> 00:26:14,550
You're like, "Oh, this is great.

550
00:26:14,610 --> 00:26:15,680
I'm enjoying this," right?

551
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:16,560
It's like falling asleep.

552
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:18,020
You're like, "Oh, this is…

553
00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:18,560
It's, it's…"

554
00:26:18,570 --> 00:26:20,170
It just happens, and
you don't even notice it

555
00:26:22,990 --> 00:26:24,010
That's what laziness does.

556
00:26:24,020 --> 00:26:25,600
It's, it willingly kills.

557
00:26:25,610 --> 00:26:26,610
You're like, "Oh, this is fun.

558
00:26:26,610 --> 00:26:29,800
I enjoy this very slow death
that's happening to me."

559
00:26:34,254 --> 00:26:37,584
The good news is though, is hard
work is also little by little, right?

560
00:26:38,184 --> 00:26:39,984
Let's say you listen to the sermon,
you're really convicted, you're like,

561
00:26:39,984 --> 00:26:41,004
"Oh, I'm gonna be a hard worker.

562
00:26:41,284 --> 00:26:44,014
I'm gonna work for the Lord, do
things from the heart for Jesus."

563
00:26:45,714 --> 00:26:48,884
Well, if you just feel that once, and
you're, you wake up tomorrow and you're

564
00:26:48,894 --> 00:26:50,914
like, "Oh, I'm gonna do it," and you're
like, "All right, I'm a hard worker.

565
00:26:51,424 --> 00:26:51,714
Done."

566
00:26:52,884 --> 00:26:55,114
That's not gonna work out for you, right?

567
00:26:55,114 --> 00:26:57,214
It happens little by little, right?

568
00:26:57,224 --> 00:27:00,914
So maybe for you, if you're, let's say
you're like, "I'm really convicted.

569
00:27:00,914 --> 00:27:01,674
I've, I've been lazy.

570
00:27:01,674 --> 00:27:05,994
I wanna, I wanna be a hard worker," and
you ha- come up with these big plans

571
00:27:06,004 --> 00:27:09,654
to do all this awesome stuff, sometimes
that's not the best way to do it.

572
00:27:10,374 --> 00:27:13,834
Sometimes you just need to take a, a
little bit more, push yourself a little

573
00:27:13,834 --> 00:27:15,023
bit further than you did last time.

574
00:27:15,903 --> 00:27:18,774
Instead of trying to go
from, "Well, I've never…

575
00:27:18,804 --> 00:27:22,163
I, I don't read the Bible at all,"
to, "Oh, I'm gonna read the, the

576
00:27:22,164 --> 00:27:24,684
whole Bible in six months," right?

577
00:27:24,684 --> 00:27:28,263
That's a bad idea usually, right?

578
00:27:29,063 --> 00:27:34,323
Maybe you should say, "I'm gonna read one
verse every day," or, "I'm gonna read one

579
00:27:34,324 --> 00:27:38,924
chapter of my favorite book of the Bible
every day," or, "Maybe I'll ask my leader

580
00:27:38,924 --> 00:27:41,143
for an easy Bible reading plan to do."

581
00:27:42,343 --> 00:27:42,523
Right?

582
00:27:42,523 --> 00:27:45,014
You go little by little, and then
you grow, and you grow, and you keep

583
00:27:45,014 --> 00:27:47,943
pushing yourself, and you keep asking
questions, and, and that's how you grow

584
00:27:50,712 --> 00:27:55,832
So growth in a positive way happens
little by little, but also so does

585
00:27:55,832 --> 00:27:57,112
growth in a negative way, right?

586
00:27:57,112 --> 00:27:59,242
Decay happens little by little

587
00:28:06,110 --> 00:28:06,230
And we talked about all those
decisions you're making, right?

588
00:28:06,230 --> 00:28:07,130
Every, every minute you're just … Right,
right now, you are deciding whether

589
00:28:07,130 --> 00:28:08,540
to focus or whether to zone out.

590
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,090
And that's you becoming more lazy or
a, a harder worker moment by moment.

591
00:28:15,550 --> 00:28:16,250
What do you do?

592
00:28:16,260 --> 00:28:17,920
How do you convince yourself to do that?

593
00:28:17,950 --> 00:28:18,930
How do you, how do you

594
00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:19,940
Because we talked about your heart, right?

595
00:28:19,950 --> 00:28:20,540
It's about the heart.

596
00:28:20,540 --> 00:28:22,270
It's not about, "Well, I just
gotta do this 'cause I'm supposed

597
00:28:22,270 --> 00:28:23,950
to and 'cause being a Christian is
about following all these rules."

598
00:28:23,950 --> 00:28:25,530
That's not what it's about, right?

599
00:28:25,540 --> 00:28:28,470
Being a hard worker doesn't
make you a Christian, right?

600
00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:30,460
Doing your chores better
doesn't make you a Christian

601
00:28:32,814 --> 00:28:36,104
You do the chores because you love
Jesus, and you want to do them for

602
00:28:36,104 --> 00:28:39,174
Him and because you love your parents,
because Jesus loved you first.

603
00:28:39,884 --> 00:28:40,044
Right?

604
00:28:40,044 --> 00:28:42,124
You don't do the chores and say,
"Well, now that I'm good at my chores

605
00:28:42,124 --> 00:28:45,554
and that I'm obedient and I'm nice
and I work hard, I do my homework on

606
00:28:45,554 --> 00:28:47,154
time, now it makes me a Christian."

607
00:28:47,164 --> 00:28:48,184
That's not how it works, right?

608
00:28:49,504 --> 00:28:51,124
But you need to make all these
decisions, but what do you…

609
00:28:51,134 --> 00:28:51,774
How do you do that?

610
00:28:51,774 --> 00:28:54,314
Well, one way you can do that
is think about the results.

611
00:28:54,324 --> 00:28:56,494
Think about w- who am I gonna be tomorrow?

612
00:28:57,574 --> 00:28:59,894
Where is this gonna take
me if I keep doing this?

613
00:29:00,163 --> 00:29:04,664
So point number three, evaluate the
results of laziness and discipline

614
00:29:07,374 --> 00:29:09,004
Evaluate the results.

615
00:29:09,504 --> 00:29:10,004
Think about it.

616
00:29:10,034 --> 00:29:11,104
Think about what's gonna happen.

617
00:29:12,974 --> 00:29:15,584
Who am I becoming if I keep doing this?

618
00:29:18,062 --> 00:29:24,162
Is this gonna make it harder for me to,
to love God or easier for me to love God?

619
00:29:28,302 --> 00:29:32,432
Proverbs 25:28 says, "A man
without self-control," a person

620
00:29:32,432 --> 00:29:33,402
without self-control, right?

621
00:29:33,402 --> 00:29:37,072
Who doesn't have any ability to stop
themselves from doing something.

622
00:29:37,662 --> 00:29:40,522
"They're like a city broken
into and left without walls."

623
00:29:41,572 --> 00:29:43,322
If you think about this
back in the day, right?

624
00:29:43,442 --> 00:29:47,252
When this was being written, a city needed
walls 'cause otherwise the armies would

625
00:29:47,252 --> 00:29:49,002
just come in and, and take over, right?

626
00:29:49,002 --> 00:29:51,702
Like, you think of Joshua, the Battle
of Jericho, what do they need to do?

627
00:29:51,932 --> 00:29:53,942
They needed to take all
the walls down, right?

628
00:29:54,072 --> 00:29:55,172
That's what they needed God to do

629
00:29:57,806 --> 00:30:04,036
If you don't have self-control, right,
if you're an undisciplined person, you

630
00:30:04,036 --> 00:30:10,116
are vulnerable because your desires
take you wherever they want you to go.

631
00:30:11,386 --> 00:30:12,896
You want something, you have to do it.

632
00:30:14,706 --> 00:30:16,416
You, you wanna check
your phone, you have to.

633
00:30:17,086 --> 00:30:19,246
You, you feel anxious,
you have to give in.

634
00:30:20,306 --> 00:30:22,086
You're tempted to lust,
you have to give in.

635
00:30:23,816 --> 00:30:25,826
Something's hard, you have
to give up, you have to quit

636
00:30:28,462 --> 00:30:29,522
You're vulnerable.

637
00:30:29,602 --> 00:30:31,412
You are a city without walls.

638
00:30:31,662 --> 00:30:34,722
Any desire can come in and
take control of your life.

639
00:30:35,392 --> 00:30:39,122
Any impulse you have, you're
at the mercy of that desire.

640
00:30:40,672 --> 00:30:40,882
Right?

641
00:30:40,882 --> 00:30:43,452
We talked about this before, like
you're trying to walk a dog, but

642
00:30:43,452 --> 00:30:45,192
really the dog's walking you, right?

643
00:30:46,292 --> 00:30:48,982
Your desires are just taking you
wherever they want you to go, right?

644
00:30:48,982 --> 00:30:52,202
In, in, in a sense, you're
slowly becoming like an animal.

645
00:30:53,302 --> 00:30:54,452
Animals don't have self-control.

646
00:30:54,462 --> 00:30:56,532
They, they s- they, they wanna
do something, they go do it.

647
00:30:56,872 --> 00:30:59,192
They feel something, they,
they have to act on it.

648
00:31:00,432 --> 00:31:05,071
That's why Proverbs 26 says
that a fool returns to his v-

649
00:31:05,152 --> 00:31:08,431
his vomit like a dog, right?

650
00:31:08,442 --> 00:31:13,961
Uh, f- really, if you're an undisciplined
person, you, you're losing part

651
00:31:13,962 --> 00:31:15,322
of what it means to be human.

652
00:31:16,341 --> 00:31:17,601
That you have self-control.

653
00:31:17,611 --> 00:31:19,692
You can decide not to do something.

654
00:31:20,521 --> 00:31:21,812
You can decide to do something.

655
00:31:21,841 --> 00:31:22,352
That's hard.

656
00:31:24,091 --> 00:31:29,171
So maybe to evaluate, am I letting
my, my body tell me what to do?

657
00:31:30,161 --> 00:31:30,331
Right?

658
00:31:30,332 --> 00:31:30,952
Oh, I'm really…

659
00:31:30,952 --> 00:31:33,692
I was just really hungry, so I
had to lash out and be impatient.

660
00:31:34,131 --> 00:31:36,311
Or, uh, that person just really
gets on my nerves, so I just

661
00:31:36,311 --> 00:31:38,121
had to, had to get back at them.

662
00:31:38,712 --> 00:31:39,662
Or you know what?

663
00:31:39,672 --> 00:31:43,171
I just, these are, this is just the way
my hormones are at this age, and that's

664
00:31:43,172 --> 00:31:44,441
what I have to, I have to do this.

665
00:31:44,441 --> 00:31:45,262
I have to feel this way.

666
00:31:45,672 --> 00:31:46,942
I have to think about these things

667
00:31:49,070 --> 00:31:52,380
That's you being controlled
by your body, right?

668
00:31:52,390 --> 00:31:56,350
Your, your impulses, y- your hormones,
your, the bare chemicals in your

669
00:31:56,350 --> 00:31:57,490
brain are telling you what to do.

670
00:31:58,180 --> 00:32:01,290
"Well, I just felt anxious, so
I just had to, had to do that.

671
00:32:02,250 --> 00:32:04,540
I just was so angry, I
just couldn't stop myself."

672
00:32:06,010 --> 00:32:07,650
Your feelings are walking you

673
00:32:11,896 --> 00:32:12,166
Right?

674
00:32:12,206 --> 00:32:15,716
Christians, by the power of
God's Spirit, not because they're

675
00:32:15,746 --> 00:32:19,756
better than other people, can tell
their feelings what to do, right?

676
00:32:19,756 --> 00:32:21,196
That self-control is
a fruit of the Spirit.

677
00:32:21,746 --> 00:32:23,086
It's not a fruit of
you trying really hard.

678
00:32:23,275 --> 00:32:25,696
And it comes from you saying, "I,
I'm gonna do this because I love God.

679
00:32:26,185 --> 00:32:29,116
I love God more than my sin,
so I'm gonna say no to it,

680
00:32:29,576 --> 00:32:30,815
because I'm saying yes to God."

681
00:32:31,306 --> 00:32:31,476
Right?

682
00:32:31,476 --> 00:32:33,086
Self-control is more than just saying no.

683
00:32:33,086 --> 00:32:34,415
You have to say yes to something else.

684
00:32:34,685 --> 00:32:38,066
If all you do is say no and say no and
say no, it's not gonna last very long.

685
00:32:38,415 --> 00:32:39,806
You have to say yes to something else.

686
00:32:39,826 --> 00:32:42,045
That's the secret of self-control

687
00:32:44,398 --> 00:32:50,008
Something else you can think about is
how does this affect other people, right?

688
00:32:50,008 --> 00:32:51,698
How does me being lazy
affect other people?

689
00:32:51,718 --> 00:32:55,748
Maybe you think, "Oh, I, I really don't
wanna be a, a lazy person," and you're

690
00:32:55,748 --> 00:32:57,018
like, "Well, I don't wanna do my homework.

691
00:32:58,078 --> 00:32:59,068
It's just too hard.

692
00:32:59,068 --> 00:32:59,708
I don't get it.

693
00:32:59,708 --> 00:33:00,488
I don't wanna try really hard."

694
00:33:00,498 --> 00:33:05,358
But think about, well, is this making
me, preparing me to be a, a good

695
00:33:05,358 --> 00:33:09,328
husband or a good wife one day, or
a good worker or a good teammate?

696
00:33:09,997 --> 00:33:14,288
If you're always giving up on
stuff, you're gonna be a letdown

697
00:33:14,738 --> 00:33:16,528
for your team in the future, right?

698
00:33:19,734 --> 00:33:24,384
One time, um, one of my least
favorite memories, I, uh, ran away

699
00:33:24,384 --> 00:33:28,344
from soccer practice, um, because
I felt like I was the worst player

700
00:33:28,344 --> 00:33:30,344
on the team, and I probably was.

701
00:33:30,924 --> 00:33:33,534
Um, and I was like, "My team must hate me.

702
00:33:33,994 --> 00:33:35,334
They must think I'm horrible.

703
00:33:35,664 --> 00:33:36,824
They must think I'm the worst.

704
00:33:36,844 --> 00:33:38,144
There's no way they like me."

705
00:33:38,674 --> 00:33:42,434
And so I just, like, wouldn't go, and
I, like, ran into the parking lot and,

706
00:33:42,434 --> 00:33:45,444
like, hid from everyone because I was

707
00:33:45,504 --> 00:33:47,524
I felt like such a letdown to my team.

708
00:33:48,133 --> 00:33:51,114
I was like, whenever the coach was on the
field, I was like, I didn't want the ball.

709
00:33:51,164 --> 00:33:53,644
Like, I would just … Like, the ball came
to me, I would just pass it to someone.

710
00:33:53,644 --> 00:33:54,454
I was like, "I don't want this."

711
00:33:54,464 --> 00:33:57,223
Like, I … It was just … 'Cause I
felt like I was letting everyone down.

712
00:33:57,224 --> 00:33:58,243
I felt like I was a liability.

713
00:33:59,543 --> 00:33:59,643
Right?

714
00:33:59,654 --> 00:34:01,824
Laziness makes you a liability

715
00:34:04,590 --> 00:34:06,220
People can't count on you to do things.

716
00:34:07,130 --> 00:34:11,210
You can't do-- No one can trust
you with important things because

717
00:34:11,219 --> 00:34:12,550
y- you're not gonna finish them.

718
00:34:12,550 --> 00:34:13,130
You're not gonna do them.

719
00:34:13,130 --> 00:34:13,670
You're gonna give up.

720
00:34:13,670 --> 00:34:14,250
It's too hard

721
00:34:17,518 --> 00:34:18,648
So think about how it affects others.

722
00:34:18,648 --> 00:34:21,248
How does my, how is me working
hard gonna affect others?

723
00:34:21,248 --> 00:34:23,088
Well, they can trust
me, they can rely on me.

724
00:34:23,568 --> 00:34:24,538
I can be a blessing to them.

725
00:34:24,538 --> 00:34:25,237
I can serve them.

726
00:34:27,018 --> 00:34:28,898
That's, that's a good thing
to think about, right?

727
00:34:32,277 --> 00:34:37,148
Also, if you work hard, you can enjoy
the things that you really want to do.

728
00:34:38,648 --> 00:34:40,078
Uh, I don't know if you've
ever thought this to yourself.

729
00:34:40,308 --> 00:34:41,237
I think about it a lot.

730
00:34:41,388 --> 00:34:43,848
I would be so much happier
if I was more disciplined.

731
00:34:44,757 --> 00:34:49,288
Because every time I do something that's
lacking self-control, the next day I'm

732
00:34:49,288 --> 00:34:50,938
usually like, "Oh, that was super lame.

733
00:34:50,938 --> 00:34:51,498
Why'd I do that?

734
00:34:51,697 --> 00:34:52,098
I regret it."

735
00:34:54,545 --> 00:34:58,026
Right, whoever is slothful, whoever's
lazy, they won't roast his game.

736
00:34:58,146 --> 00:35:02,256
Like imagine someone's hunting something,
and they catch this, like, delicious,

737
00:35:02,816 --> 00:35:04,466
like, deer or something, right?

738
00:35:05,476 --> 00:35:06,456
And they just leave it out there.

739
00:35:07,706 --> 00:35:08,556
They go through all the work.

740
00:35:08,556 --> 00:35:11,806
They, they, you know, they, they
got in the stand, and they, they

741
00:35:11,806 --> 00:35:14,646
found it, and they shot it, and
they, like, all this stuff, and then

742
00:35:14,646 --> 00:35:15,566
they're just like, "Oh, okay, cool.

743
00:35:16,186 --> 00:35:16,496
Done."

744
00:35:17,756 --> 00:35:20,526
They don't get to enjoy the benefits of
what they did 'cause they didn't finish.

745
00:35:20,556 --> 00:35:21,826
They didn't follow through, right?

746
00:35:23,246 --> 00:35:26,586
If you're working hard, you get to
enjoy the things you really want to do.

747
00:35:27,306 --> 00:35:30,686
If you're a disciplined person, you can
actually do the things you want to do.

748
00:35:32,115 --> 00:35:33,735
If you're lazy, you're not gonna
be able to do anything you want.

749
00:35:33,755 --> 00:35:35,586
You feel like you're doing the stuff
you want 'cause you're avoiding

750
00:35:35,595 --> 00:35:39,265
hard things, but really, you're
not doing anything you want to do.

751
00:35:40,876 --> 00:35:43,505
Last thing, too, is in
Proverbs 20 verse four.

752
00:35:43,705 --> 00:35:45,586
"The sluggard does not plow in autumn.

753
00:35:45,586 --> 00:35:48,116
He will seek at harvest and have nothing."

754
00:35:49,516 --> 00:35:53,586
If you're lazy, you miss out on
future opportunities, and you're

755
00:35:53,586 --> 00:35:55,445
not ready for future challenges.

756
00:35:56,316 --> 00:35:59,425
And especially at your
stage, this is critical.

757
00:36:01,186 --> 00:36:04,786
You are becoming the adult
that you're gonna be.

758
00:36:06,296 --> 00:36:09,186
And I know people probably tell you that,
and you're like, "Oh, that's so far away."

759
00:36:10,996 --> 00:36:11,856
Right, if you're a senior

760
00:36:14,062 --> 00:36:18,292
This summer is your last
summer camp and you're done.

761
00:36:18,422 --> 00:36:18,852
No more.

762
00:36:19,782 --> 00:36:20,392
You don't get them back

763
00:36:22,806 --> 00:36:22,956
Right?

764
00:36:23,026 --> 00:36:28,266
If you're an eighth grader, this is
your last year in middle school, right?

765
00:36:28,506 --> 00:36:29,166
It, it just happens.

766
00:36:29,166 --> 00:36:29,776
It goes by.

767
00:36:29,936 --> 00:36:34,516
You have opportunities that you
are gonna need to be ready for and

768
00:36:34,516 --> 00:36:36,766
you might miss out on them, right?

769
00:36:36,766 --> 00:36:41,456
You might be a really bad husband
because you've been a lazy teenager

770
00:36:44,430 --> 00:36:49,150
You might be harming your future
family, your future kids, your future

771
00:36:49,150 --> 00:36:52,360
husband because you are a lazy teenager.

772
00:36:53,500 --> 00:36:54,890
You might be doing that right now

773
00:36:58,254 --> 00:37:01,644
You might be building bad habits
that are gonna take you years to undo

774
00:37:03,304 --> 00:37:04,854
because of what you're doing right now.

775
00:37:05,634 --> 00:37:05,664
Right?

776
00:37:05,674 --> 00:37:09,464
You're becoming the type of
person you're gonna be, and it's

777
00:37:09,464 --> 00:37:10,584
gonna happen just like that.

778
00:37:11,564 --> 00:37:12,444
And that's why this is so important.

779
00:37:12,444 --> 00:37:14,784
This is why this is really life or death.

780
00:37:15,044 --> 00:37:16,604
So let's pray, then
we'll go to small groups

781
00:37:20,078 --> 00:37:24,048
Father, I pray for all of us that you
help us to take life more seriously.

782
00:37:24,878 --> 00:37:27,528
I pray that we enjoy the good
gifts that you give us, but I

783
00:37:27,528 --> 00:37:32,458
also pray that we realize that
everything we're doing matters.

784
00:37:32,528 --> 00:37:35,328
Everything we're doing matters
forever, um, because it's

785
00:37:35,337 --> 00:37:37,518
for you or it's not for you.

786
00:37:38,278 --> 00:37:42,238
And so I pray that you help us to really
focus on becoming the type of people

787
00:37:42,238 --> 00:37:46,018
that you want us to be, and I pray that
we even keep others in mind and that we

788
00:37:46,018 --> 00:37:53,118
would, um, remember the consequences of
being lazy and the joys of working hard.

789
00:37:53,977 --> 00:37:55,458
Help us to have a good
discussion in small groups.

790
00:37:55,458 --> 00:37:56,278
Help us to be honest.

791
00:37:56,278 --> 00:37:59,348
Help us to be focused, and we
pray this all in Jesus' name.

792
00:37:59,718 --> 00:38:00,067
Amen