How do we fight against sloth?

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Robyn_p

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I’ve been struggling with sloth a lot lately. I know it is sloth and not just general laziness, because I feel it in my spiritual life. I just don’t have the energy or desire to not only pray, but do anything religious at all.

It’s bad too. Like not just watching TV for four hours bad. (though I have done that a few times) No I mean sitting and staring at a wall bad. I found myself doing that today, and I don’t even know what I was thinking about! An hour just went by and I did absolutely nothing at all. I feel sick. I hate it, but I can’t break out of it. I feel like I’m slowly suffocating.

I’ve seen a lot of good advice for how to fight lust, pride, anger etc… But not much on sloth. It seems to be the deadly sin that gets the least attention. Yet it is just as dangerous to the soul as the others are.

So how do we fight it? How do we even muster up the energy TO fight it? It seems like a vicious cycle to me.

Anybody else know what I’m feeling and got any advice?
 
There is a good reason the saints kept themselves very busy, it’s much more difficult to fall into sin when you’re too busy for anything but duties, prayer and sleep.

Oh us westerners! We’re so lazy, and so given to our sensuality. I struggle with this a lot myself. I’ve found that making sure I get up at the same time everyday and quickly getting out of bed and onto my knees to say my first prayers of the day right when my alarm goes off helps. Doing this sets a certain tone of diligence for the day.

I’ve spent some time visiting convents over the past two years and there are so many wonderful things I’ve learned, but one thing in particular I wish western culture would learn from religious is how to enjoy leisure time. Holy religious men and women really give themselves to their leisure time and have a blast. It is so beautiful! But they do this because they only set aside the amount of time for leisure that a human needs for mental relaxation and the joy of relaxing with brothers and sisters, rather than doing what the rest of us westerners do and try to have recreation at all times. If we have recreation at all times, it becomes rather boring. It’s the same thing over and over and there’s little joy and relaxation in it. But, if we work hard, our leisure and especially our rest on the Lord’s Day will be that much more meaningful. Having holy leisure and working diligently can totally transform your spiritual life. So, I would suggest being more purposeful in when and what you do to relax.

As for prayer, just start off with a little bit. For a week choose some short prayers for each day, maybe an Angelus in the morning and a decade of the Rosary. Then the next week add one more decade of the Rosary. Eventually start going to Mass on Friday’s as well as Sundays. Add just a little bit at a time, if you take on too much too quickly you probably won’t be able to keep it up.

God bless!
 
Hmm, the first thing I can think of is #1 - the Nike slogan, “Just Do It”! Get off your spiritual butt and pray, or read the Bible or some other spiritual book.

#2 - Go to confession and confess your slothfulness, your lack of prayer. You’re breaking the First Commandment at the very least, which is to put God first, before all other things in your life. Sloth is also one of the Seven Deadly Sins, which as you see has led you to neglect your spiritual life.

You can also read a bit on line about combating sloth. You might start at catholictradition.org/Classics/combat20.htm

I struggle with sloth, too. I will pray for you.
 
My dear one, you are not alone but it is good that you can see this…now what to do. First off, I must share an excellent book I just finished called
Lukewarmness The Devil in Disguise by Francis Carvajal. Oh my, so much good advise and wisdom in it! Basically you need to get yourself before the Tabernacle or Eucharistic Adoration and ask the Lord the reveal the problem…Our Lord very, very much wants to help you! SO much is our lack of nearness to Him…our lack of cultivating a deep interior life with Jesus…without this the “world” sucks us in and we get lethargic. Confession and spending time with Him in His presence will help immensely!!! I have been where you are and sometimes fall back into that place and it is awful and very dangerous for your soul. You have my prayers! Remember that our Lord did not come for the healthy but all of us weak sinners…He’s waiting to help you and pour His love out to you:) My prayers,
mlz
 
Robyn_p said:
I’ve been struggling with sloth a lot lately. I know it is sloth and not just general laziness, because I feel it in my spiritual life. I just don’t have the energy or desire to not only pray, but do anything religious at all.

It’s bad too. Like not just watching TV for four hours bad. (though I have done that a few times) No I mean sitting and staring at a wall bad. I found myself doing that today, and I don’t even know what I was thinking about! An hour just went by and I did absolutely nothing at all. I feel sick. I hate it, but I can’t break out of it. I feel like I’m slowly suffocating.

I’ve seen a lot of good advice for how to fight lust, pride, anger etc… But not much on sloth. It seems to be the deadly sin that gets the least attention. Yet it is just as dangerous to the soul as the others are.

So how do we fight it? How do we even muster up the energy TO fight it? It seems like a vicious cycle to me.

Anybody else know what I’m feeling and got any advice?
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I am attentively monitoring this thread. Sloth is the deadliest of deadly sins, for me.
 
You may want to get evaluated for Depression. While what you describe can be sloth, the inertia and lack of motivation and interest are symptoms of depression. I have experienced a lot of this since my father died and I had pancreatic cancer about six years ago. I call it The Great Paralysis. I beg God daily to help me be free of this but it is a major struggle. If you have depression there is no way you can Just Do It or make yourself better without treatment. Whatever you are dealing with here, be it sloth, depression, or something else, I truly hope you can figure things out and I wish you the best. You will be in my thoughts.
 
I understand Robyn since I could wander the house aimlessly for hours on end with seemingly nothing to do. What changed me was asking God to make me focused on prayer.

Also, keep yourself busy. Never be completely idle. Make yourself do things in order to make it become a habit. Replace bad habits with good ones, and you will find they come naturally.
 
lifeandhope said:
You may want to get evaluated for Depression. While what you describe can be sloth, the inertia and lack of motivation and interest are symptoms of depression. I have experienced a lot of this since my father died and I had pancreatic cancer about six years ago. I call it The Great Paralysis. I beg God daily to help me be free of this but it is a major struggle. If you have depression there is no way you can Just Do It or make yourself better without treatment. Whatever you are dealing with here, be it sloth, depression, or something else, I truly hope you can figure things out and I wish you the best. You will be in my thoughts.
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I did lose my uncle last month, and before that I went through a long bout of depression last year. So you could be right, that may be part of it. But I’ve also always been an extremely lazy person, even when I was a kid. I was notorious for putting off homework assignments until the last minute.

It could be the depression is just exacerbating things. I already tend towards this sin, and now my defenses are down completely.
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Hmm, the first thing I can think of is #1 - the Nike slogan, “Just Do It”! Get off your spiritual butt and pray, or read the Bible or some other spiritual book.

#2 - Go to confession and confess your slothfulness, your lack of prayer. You’re breaking the First Commandment at the very least, which is to put God first, before all other things in your life. Sloth is also one of the Seven Deadly Sins, which as you see has led you to neglect your spiritual life.

You can also read a bit on line about combating sloth. You might start at catholictradition.org/Classics/combat20.htm

I struggle with sloth, too. I will pray for you.
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Thanks for the link. It looks like it might be helpful.

A slight tangent: Is sloth always a mortal sin? I guess that might be a stupid question, since it is called a deadly sin. It’s just, this isn’t something I’m choosing. I would give anything to not struggle with this, but it’s always there. I feel like St. Paul when he says, ‘‘I do not do the good that I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.’’

I will go to confession, because I know I need it, but I’m just wondering if I have to confess sacrilege also because I haven’t been to confession for a few months but I’ve taken communion. If I’ve been sinning every time I’ve received I would feel horrible.
 
mlz said:
My dear one, you are not alone but it is good that you can see this…now what to do. First off, I must share an excellent book I just finished called
Lukewarmness The Devil in Disguise by Francis Carvajal. Oh my, so much good advise and wisdom in it! Basically you need to get yourself before the Tabernacle or Eucharistic Adoration and ask the Lord the reveal the problem…Our Lord very, very much wants to help you! SO much is our lack of nearness to Him…our lack of cultivating a deep interior life with Jesus…without this the “world” sucks us in and we get lethargic. Confession and spending time with Him in His presence will help immensely!!! I have been where you are and sometimes fall back into that place and it is awful and very dangerous for your soul. You have my prayers! Remember that our Lord did not come for the healthy but all of us weak sinners…He’s waiting to help you and pour His love out to you:) My prayers,
mlz
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Thank you for the book recommendation! It sounds good, I will definitely check it out.

And thank you everyone else on this thread for your prayers and advice. It’s nice knowing I’m not alone. 🙂
 
lifeandhope said:
You may want to get evaluated for Depression. While what you describe can be sloth, the inertia and lack of motivation and interest are symptoms of depression. I have experienced a lot of this since my father died and I had pancreatic cancer about six years ago. I call it The Great Paralysis. I beg God daily to help me be free of this but it is a major struggle. If you have depression there is no way you can Just Do It or make yourself better without treatment. Whatever you are dealing with here, be it sloth, depression, or something else, I truly hope you can figure things out and I wish you the best. You will be in my thoughts.
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You are a lucky individual. God bless you.

–

I have always been a slothful person, even relative to people in my demographic, as I estimated that I was in the bottom tenth percentile in work ethic while I was an undergraduate since I nary studied in the library like most students there as I looked at various websites and pursued some leisurely intellectual interests in politics, economics, history, theology, and philosophy even though I was a biology major. I often did my assignments at the last minute, and studied for approximately an hour before an examination. I was relatively “successful”, even though I was not exceptional, but I relied primarily on my memory and intelligence.

During my period of conversion, the Holy Spirit gave me the necessary zeal to eclipse the deficits of my personality in order to love Him ardently, but after my confirmation, this zeal slowly faded as I encountered various distractions and discouraging experiences, and I often reached new nadirs in my faith, such as not attending Mass for weeks or neglecting even to pray for days. My passion has been enervated, and I feel encircled and isolated from my allies.
 
I believe some people just have higher energy levels than others. Having a routine helps. Exercising helps. I will assign myself a few chores and then reward myself with watching tv or a movie. It is easy to procrastinate. Procrastination is one of my big struggles.
 
Also, it could be medical, couldn’t it? Thyroid levels could be really low…?

Praying for you. I have a lot of these slothful characteristics myself…

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
 
Robyn_p said:
I did lose my uncle last month, and before that I went through a long bout of depression last year. So you could be right, that may be part of it. But I’ve also always been an extremely lazy person, even when I was a kid. I was notorious for putting off homework assignments until the last minute.

It could be the depression is just exacerbating things. I already tend towards this sin, and now my defenses are down completely.
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Sometimes it’s hard to tease out mental/emotional depression (or physical lack of energy for that matter) from spiritual sloth. And I think the Enemy probably likes it that way - he can confuse us into the bargain. :banghead:

My spiritual life’s been all over the map this year as I’ve dealt with major financial crises and life transitions. :coolinoff: Some days I’m just plain exhausted. Some of the worst in the transition (moving) is past, the financial is still a huge test of faith. But during the peak of the stress, sometimes I’d find immense trust in God, sometimes I’d swing the opposite way into despair and even hysteria, sometimes I was just drained and numb.

Adapting to new routines and all, there have been times I just want to veg now that the moving part is over. And I know the spiritual part that’s sloth is that feeling of not wanting to make effort toward prayer or spiritual reading or devotions - to gravitate toward the brain candy - electronics, re-reading favorite books, etc. just because it requires less effort.

I’m glad this thread is here, we can all help and pray for one another. I would say it’s hard to tell when sloth becomes a mortal sin, unless you stop going to Mass because of it. Others may have some insights on that . . . ? But I think it’s one of the slipperier kinds of sin even at the venial level, precisely because it’s so hard to pin down. :twocents:
 
Robyn_p said:
Thanks for the link. It looks like it might be helpful.

A slight tangent: Is sloth always a mortal sin? I guess that might be a stupid question, since it is called a deadly sin. It’s just, this isn’t something I’m choosing. I would give anything to not struggle with this, but it’s always there. I feel like St. Paul when he says, ‘‘I do not do the good that I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.’’

I will go to confession, because I know I need it, but I’m just wondering if I have to confess sacrilege also because I haven’t been to confession for a few months but I’ve taken communion. If I’ve been sinning every time I’ve received I would feel horrible.
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Oh, no, Sloth is not necessarily a mortal sin in and of itself. The Seven Deadly Sins are not automatically mortal sins - they are tendencies which lead us into venial and mortal sins.
 
Sloths usually don’t attack. They are slow moving creatures that prefer to be left alone. No need to fight against them.

Oh, you mean the lazy kind of sloth? I still haven’t figured that out.

These days, it sometimes seems we are encouraged to be hyper-busy and uber-productive. A little down time is not always a bad thing, and often we need it, but we can be made to feel guilty if we are not always on the go.

I was also a notorious procrastinator as a kid. What worked for me was simplifying, not trying to do too many things at once.
 
I think the more you sleep the more tired and lethargic you get, and the more you get your blood circulating the more energy you have. Energy begets energy. Walking, swimming and bicycling are all good exercises, and they do make one more energetic. I think daily exercise truly is the secret to longevity and to feeling a sense of aliveness. Getting fresh air and sunlight should be priorities for all of us; getting outdoors and moving the body is important. Sloth is also related to depression, or at least for it is. I’m personally convinced that depression is essentially, it’s very deepest and most basic essence is, a lack of sociability. When we socialize, and when we find ways within us to foster a real love of socializing, our depression lifts and we become happy. I really implore everyone to mull and ponder this point, because it needs to be thoroughly grasped at our deepest level, and it doesn’t seem to be a widely known or understood principle. The definition of depression is fundamentally a defect of sociability. And it’s a very difficult thing for some of us, particularly people such as myself, who are quiet and introverted and kind of withdrawn by nature.

Human beings also need work that is fulfilling. That’s necessary for happiness and to fight Sloth, and I think that both sprituality and having or discovering some form artistic activity can factor into this. I really like Pedro Arrupe’s formula for overcoming Sloth:
 
Robyn p,

I realize it has been a couple days since you last posted. I hope you have been well.

If you can muster the energy for some reading, consider this book that addresses both sloth and depression.

The Catholic Guide to Depression by Aaron Kheriaty, MD with Fr. John Cihak, STD.

There is a specific section starting on page 59 titled “Depression Versus Acedia (or Sloth)”. I think there can be some danger in self-diagnosing either depression or depression. However, consider the following from page 60.

Both depression and acedia seem cognitively similar in that the thoughts are self-focused. However, in the depressed person, the thoughts pervade all of life, while in the acedic person, they have to do only with the things of God.
 
Exiled_Child said:
I think the more you sleep the more tired and lethargic you get, and the more you get your blood circulating the more energy you have. Energy begets energy. Walking, swimming and bicycling are all good exercises, and they do make one more energetic. I think daily exercise truly is the secret to longevity and to feeling a sense of aliveness. Getting fresh air and sunlight should be priorities for all of us; getting outdoors and moving the body is important. Sloth is also related to depression, or at least for it is. I’m personally convinced that depression is essentially, it’s very deepest and most basic essence is, a lack of sociability. When we socialize, and when we find ways within us to foster a real love of socializing, our depression lifts and we become happy. I really implore everyone to mull and ponder this point, because it needs to be thoroughly grasped at our deepest level, and it doesn’t seem to be a widely known or understood principle. The definition of depression is fundamentally a defect of sociability. And it’s a very difficult thing for some of us, particularly people such as myself, who are quiet and introverted and kind of withdrawn by nature.

Human beings also need work that is fulfilling. That’s necessary for happiness and to fight Sloth, and I think that both sprituality and having or discovering some form artistic activity can factor into this. I really like Pedro Arrupe’s formula for overcoming Sloth:
Click to expand...
Interesting take - although as an introvert I tend to get my hackles raised because the world is so dominated by the extroverts that I don’t want to be told to socialize more. :eek: It’s not that I don’t think there are benefits - too much isolation can certainly be bad for a person, and our brains are wired to get some good neurotransmitters going with human contact . . . I guess I would say don’t force yourself into a type of socialization that isn’t “you” (parties, big crowds, or whatever) if you’re the type who’s easily drained and needs “down time” to recover from overstimulation as I do. But when the time is right, something like a relaxed lunch or walk with a good friend can do you good. Ideally someone with whom you spiritually connect, and enjoy exchanging news and ideas and encouragement with. Perhaps a person you pray or go to Mass or Adoration with.
 
Exiled_Child said:
I think the more you sleep the more tired and lethargic you get, and the more you get your blood circulating the more energy you have. Energy begets energy. Walking, swimming and bicycling are all good exercises, and they do make one more energetic. I think daily exercise truly is the secret to longevity and to feeling a sense of aliveness. Getting fresh air and sunlight should be priorities for all of us; getting outdoors and moving the body is important. Sloth is also related to depression, or at least for it is. I’m personally convinced that depression is essentially, it’s very deepest and most basic essence is, a lack of sociability. When we socialize, and when we find ways within us to foster a real love of socializing, our depression lifts and we become happy. I really implore everyone to mull and ponder this point, because it needs to be thoroughly grasped at our deepest level, and it doesn’t seem to be a widely known or understood principle. The definition of depression is fundamentally a defect of sociability. And it’s a very difficult thing for some of us, particularly people such as myself, who are quiet and introverted and kind of withdrawn by nature.

Human beings also need work that is fulfilling. That’s necessary for happiness and to fight Sloth, and I think that both sprituality and having or discovering some form artistic activity can factor into this. I really like Pedro Arrupe’s formula for overcoming Sloth:
Click to expand...
I must respectfully but strongly disagree. The research shows absolutely no correlation between introversion and depression. Indeed, a lack of socialibility is one of many SYMPTOMS OF depression, but never the cause. I don’t want to derail the thread with a discussion on introversion verses extroversion, except to say the Westernized world highly values extroversion but in fact there is absolutely nothing wrong with introversion. We are socially conditioned to favor extroversion while failing to recognize the amazing gifts that introverts bring to the table.

Depression is extremely complex and varies from person to person. After my first brain surgery I was hit with depression; my neurosurgeon explained that this was normal and expected in a person undergoing the treatment I had. Some depression is strictly a physiological phenomenon. Someone mentioned getting your thyroid checked and I think that is excellent advise. Regardless, though, of the cause of depression, focusing on the treatment is of main import. I go to St. Dynphna often as she is the patron of mental health issues. I personally believe that God has great compassion for all who struggle, whether from depression or sloth, He loves and cares for us, only wanting the best for us. He wants us to fellowship in His suffering (Phil. 3:10) and offer our struggles to Him.
 
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