Laziness and Pride

(Proverbs 18:9, 12)

What do you think are the obstacles that block success?
Pastor Kim Byung-Sam, in his book “Seven Obstacles to Success”, lists seven hidden barriers within success that Christians must wisely overcome (source: internet). Among them, two are especially important: pride and laziness (or neglect).

The author explains that pride means thinking in a self-centered way, stating that God enters through the door of humility, but Satan enters through the door of pride. He also says that laziness is a sin because it cuts off communication with God, increases complaints, and leads to broken relationships with others.

So, how should we as Christians overcome pride and laziness?

In today’s passage, Proverbs 18:9 and 12, King Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, speaks about “one who is slack in his work” and about a person whose heart is proud.
Focusing on these two verses, let us reflect under the title “Laziness and Pride” to receive the lessons God is giving to you and me.

First, let’s think about laziness.

Proverbs 18:9 says,

“One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.”

King Solomon repeatedly addressed laziness in other chapters of Proverbs such as chapters 10, 12, and 13. The main point is clear: a lazy person becomes poor (Proverbs 10:4). And understandably so—because the lazy person does not work diligently. He moves his hands sluggishly (10:4), and so he inevitably becomes poor.

While a lazy person moves his hands sluggishly, he is quite active with his mind—especially if he is an evil and lazy servant. How do we know this? As we meditated on Proverbs 15:19 before, the wicked are full of schemes. So, instead of sweating and working hard, they scheme to avoid labor. As a result, the Bible tells us that the life of an evil and lazy servant becomes surrounded by thorny difficulties on every side.

A good example is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30.
A man, before traveling abroad, entrusted his possessions to his servants (v.14). To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one—each according to their ability (v.15). After a long time, the master returned and settled accounts with them (v.19). The ones who had received five and two talents doubled them through business (vv.20, 22). But the one who had received just one talent said:

“Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you” (vv.24–25).

Then the master replied:

“You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest” (vv.26–27).

Unlike the two other servants who immediately went out and traded with what they received, the servant with one talent did not obey right away. He instead rationalized with the words, “I knew,” and hid the talent in the ground. This is what the evil and lazy servant does—he is full of excuses.

That’s why Proverbs 13:4 says:

“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing.”

This means that even though he desires in his heart, he does not move his hands, so he does not receive what he wants.

The lazy person does not even hunt what could be caught (Proverbs 12:27), and he is too lazy to lift food from the bowl to his mouth (Proverbs 19:24, 26:15).
Isn’t that ridiculous? If you want meat, you must go out and hunt the animal—but these people only desire it in their hearts and don’t actually go hunting. Isn’t that absurd?

Also, who puts his hand in the bowl and is too lazy to bring it to his mouth? Should someone have to spoon-feed him like a baby?
This, I believe, is the height of laziness. Desiring with the heart but not hunting, and even when the hand is in the bowl, being too lazy to bring it to the mouth—that is laziness at its worst.

The Bible refers to such a person in Proverbs 19:15 as “an idle man,” meaning someone who is lazy and doing nothing. Simply put, the lazy person hates working with his hands (21:25).

Yet ironically, the lazy person still creates problems. How so?
1 Timothy 5:13 says that the lazy go around from house to house and say things they shouldn’t—foolish talk that stirs up trouble. In other words, young widows who are idle go from home to home, gossiping and saying inappropriate things, causing conflict.

Such people existed in the Thessalonian church. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 3:11:

“They are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.”

They liked to interfere in the affairs of others, creating trouble within the church community.
They even burdened other brothers in the church to meet their daily needs, failing to live out brotherly love.

So the teaching is clear:
Laziness is not just inactivity; it is a spiritually destructive behavior. It leads to excuses, broken relationships, gossip, dependency on others, and ultimately, a life without fruit. As Christians, we must take this seriously and strive for diligence—not only in our work, but in our walk with God.

In the next part, we will reflect on pride.

One who neglects his own work, as mentioned in today's text, Proverbs 18:9, is called "brother to one who destroys." What does this mean? That the lazy person and the one who ruins things are like brothers—it means the lazy person is a great waster (Spence-Jones). In other words, a lazy person is like a prodigal. That’s why Proverbs 23:21 says:

“For drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

And in Proverbs 12:11, Scripture clearly says:

“He who chases fantasies lacks judgment.”

But what’s the problem? A lazy person considers himself wise. Proverbs 26:16 says:

“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer discreetly.”

When I reflect on this, I believe there is a connection between laziness and pride. In other words, a lazy person is also a proud person.

Brothers and sisters, we Christians must not be lazy. Rather, we must be diligent. As we have learned repeatedly while studying the book of Proverbs, those who fear God and are wise are diligent (Proverbs 12:27, 15:19). We must become wise Christians who not only diligently teach ourselves (Romans 2:21) but also teach others the Word of God with diligence and work diligently in all things (Proverbs 16:26).

When we work diligently, we should be like ants—working voluntarily and cooperatively without needing to be supervised (Proverbs 6:7). And like ants, we must prepare for the future in advance, with diligence (v. 8). Just as ants gather food during the harvest season to prepare for winter, we too should prepare diligently for the future. In particular, we must prepare diligently for our death and for meeting the Lord. We must also be diligent in preparing for the Lord’s return.

Now secondly, let us reflect on pride.

Look at Proverbs 18:12:

“Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.”

What is pride? (from online sources) It is the opposite of humility (Proverbs 11:2, 13:10, 15:33, 16:18–19; Matthew 5:3; Luke 14:11). It is a state of the heart in which one holds a sense of superiority and is not satisfied unless one is at the center of everything.

However, the central teaching of Scripture is that fearing God is the highest virtue, and pride is the greatest sin (Proverbs 1:7, 6:16–17; 1 Peter 5:5).

Pride is often categorized as pride of power, pride of knowledge, and pride of righteousness. In the Bible, pride arises when one’s focus shifts from God to oneself.

We must be careful when people’s attention and admiration focus on us. Especially, we must guard against people’s praise. Proverbs 27:21 says:

“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but people are tested by their praise.”

When we receive praise, we must give glory to God. In other words, we must direct people’s attention and focus to the Lord. Otherwise, our hearts may become proud because of their praise, attention, and admiration. We must always keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Our focus must always remain on the Lord. And we must be humble like Jesus—humble, with a continual willingness to obey His will.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must become honest Christians who fear God. As we reflected in Proverbs 8:13, fearing the Lord means hating evil. God hates pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech. And as we saw in Proverbs 16:18, a righteous person who fears God turns away from evil, especially from pride, because he knows that pride goes before destruction.

He not only turns away from pride but also does not associate with the proud. Why? Because pride leads only to conflict (Proverbs 13:10), and God hates the proud. Even if the proud join forces, they will not go unpunished (Proverbs 16:5).

Rather, the honest person who fears the Lord humbles himself and associates with the humble (Proverbs 16:19), because he knows that wisdom is found among the humble (Proverbs 11:2). He also knows that God gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34), so he humbles himself alongside them.

Another evil that a person with a righteous and upright heart avoids is laziness (Proverbs 15:19). The righteous who fears God carries out his responsibilities faithfully. Therefore, the path of the honest is smooth like a well-paved highway. Why? Because he fears the Lord, follows His will, does not procrastinate, and labors diligently with sweat and effort.

We must strive to humbly and diligently fulfill the will of the Lord, like a righteous person who fears God.

To conclude this reflection: the Lord desires us to be good and faithful servants. A good and faithful servant is diligent—never lazy. And a good and faithful servant of the Lord is humble.

I pray that you and I will become the Lord’s good and faithful servants, who obey His commands humbly and carry out His work diligently.