Why Do I Procrastinate?


Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 4:17 NLT

James chapter four verse seventeen



The Bible says you procrastinate for one of five reasons.

Indecision. "A double minded man is unstable in all he does." (James 1:8 LB) Indecision causes you to postpone buying a car, choosing a college, getting married, buying new clothes, changing a job.

Perfectionism. "If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done!" (Ecclesiastes 11:4 LB) If you wait for things to be perfect, you're going to wait a long time.

Fear. "The fear of man is a trap." (Proverbs 29:25 LB) Have you been postponing going to the dentist? Or getting into marriage counseling? Ask yourself, "What am I afraid of?"

Anger. "A lazy person is as bad as someone who is destructive." (Proverbs 18:9 GNT) Procrastination is passive resistance. I don't want to do it because I don't like you telling me to do what I have to do. Anger causes us to put things off.

Laziness. "Lazy people want much but get little, while the diligent are prospering." (Proverbs 13:4 LB) One of the most popular words in America is "easy." If it's easy, we like it. If it's hard, we don't like it.

The next time you find yourself procrastinating, stop and ask yourself WHY. 
Then ask God to help you overcome it so you can move forward and do what you need to do.

When you procrastinate you're saying one of two things to yourself, 
  1. "It's easier to avoid this than to face it" and that's wrong. 
  2. The other one is "It will be easier to handle this tomorrow (or later)" and that's wrong too.

The Bible tells us that there is a cost to procrastination.

Procrastination causes problems -
Procrastination takes a problem and makes it a crisis. The longer you wait to start, the harder it is to begin.

Procrastination wastes opportunities
"If you won't plow in the cold, you won't eat at harvest." (Proverbs 20:4 LB) When opportunity knocks, open the door! Take the advantage while you've got it. If you don't, you'll miss it.

From: @YouVersion plan 'Rick Warren's Daily Devotional'. Check it out here:

Comments

Anonymous said…
So guilty of this! Now I need to read and watch this video again so I can stop procrastinating!
Thanks for this :)
Anonymous said…
It is so easy to justify my procrastination! I really needed to hear this, thanks. xx
Anonymous said…
Good stuff 👍