What Is Sloth and Why Do We Call It a Sin?

Contributing Writer

Updated March 07, 2024

We live in a time of high productivity, from our careers to our education and families. Here in the West, we thrive on working to the bone to get that paycheck, to meet our goals, and to be productive. Of all the seven deadly sins, slothfulness is probably the least to worry about for the hard-working American Christian, right? Well, to be honest, no. It’s actually the most relevant.

When we think of slothfulness, we probably think of a literal sloth moving slowly. If you like Disney cartoons, you may think of the sloth who works at the Department of Motor Vehicles in the 2016 movie Zootopia. We probably think of some guy sitting in his lazy chair gaming online for hours with only a bag of chips and soda. This type of laziness is typically addressed but is not the only form. In the spiritual life of Christianity, there is a form of laziness, slothfulness, in Greek known as acedia, which translates to “a lack of care.”

Where Does the Bible Talk about the Sin of Sloth?

One does not need to look any further for slothfulness in the writings of King Solomon in Proverbs and the Apostle Paul in his Epistles.

“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.” (Proverbs 13:4)
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider its ways and be wise.” (Proverbs 6:6)
“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:9-12)

In some of these writings, we may get the idea that we need to work harder to provide for ourselves. Take shorter breaks, be quick to get water, and then back to the grind. It couldn’t be further from the truth. No, I am not saying we shouldn’t work to earn our keep. Scripture makes that pretty clear (see 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12).

What Does It Look Like to Fall into the Sin of Sloth?

To fall into the sin of slothfulness, acedia, is to deliberately ignore what we are called to do in a life of prayer for the sake of being busybodies (i.e., devotion to our careers, hobbies, or “me time”). Of course, there is nothing wrong with these in general. We all have God-given callings and work to do. What is a problem is when they replace devotion to God as we constantly seek new distractions and excuses for not having enough time. As Fr. Hayden Butler of St. Matthew’s Anglican Catholic Church puts it:

“Acedia is a restlessness that manifests in a refusal to commit to one place or purpose. In the meantime, acedia makes us lose our taste for what is significant and what is insignificant as we fail again and again to discern between demands for our attention.”

As Christians in the United States, we tend to get lost in our work to the point of placing it over our life of prayer and devotion, even if that work is the work of God. In our present age, we have vast resources to enhance our spiritual life, yet at the same time, we are highly distracted and have been for the past 60-70 years. Bishop Stephen Scarlett summarizes this point in one of his sermons:

“The irony of our time is that Bible and Bible study resources are more plentiful than they have ever been, and yet, the average Christian today knows less of the Scriptures today than Christians of past ages when all that a family possessed was one King James Bible and no Bible study resources at all. This is in part [because] of our consumer mindset that seeks immediate gratification and stops reading the Bible the minute it becomes too hard.”

How Does the Bible Define the Sin of Sloth?

The sin of sloth is nothing short of deliberately wasting time that can be given to God. I have been a victim of this. I still am, on and off. A defining verse on the sin of slothfulness that comes to mind is Proverbs 24:30-34:

“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”

As mentioned, the danger of spiritual slothfulness is that we ground ourselves in our work. After our work, we are tired, worn out, or worse, burnt out. With what little energy we have left, we give to scrolling on our phones, watching movie clips we’ve seen repeatedly, or just lying awake staring at the ceiling, all while feeling deep down that we aren’t where we want to be spiritually. But like trying to get up early in the morning only to be pulled back to the comfort of our bed, we remain where we are, slothful.

C.S. Lewis puts this well in The Screwtape Letters, where he encourages his nephew to keep his human “patient” from growing spiritually through distractions until he has little or no time to give to God.

“A few weeks ago, you had to tempt him to unreality and inattention in his prayers: but now, you will find him opening his arms to you and almost begging you to distract his purpose and benumb his heart. He will want his prayers to be unreal, for he will dread nothing so much as effective contact with [God]. His aim will be to let sleeping worms lie…The Christians describe [God] as one ‘without whom Nothing is strong.’ And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it know not what and know not why…”

Is the Sin of Sloth the Same Sin as Laziness?

We often assume laziness and slothfulness mean the same thing. As already discussed, the sin of the slot has more to do with being so busy with anything other than our time with God. Laziness can overlap with the sin of the sloth, but it can also be different. As P. Fernando Pascual puts it, “Laziness grows when it feeds itself. When people prefer something on the internet to an important task, postpone again and again an important task, so that the vice increases in the heart.”

While the two have differences, one is not worse than the other. The sins of sloth and laziness both lead to a lack of attention and putting off what’s important. They can also lead to serious problems like selfishness, idolatry, and neglect.

How Can We Avoid the Sin of Sloth?

Overcoming slothfulness can take time, as it is a daily struggle and temptation. It is not impossible, however. Regardless of our Christian denomination and traditions, we can learn from the Monastic lives of the Church, past and present. As Anthony of Padua wrote, “Whoever you may be, always keep God before your eyes; whatever you do, consider the testimony of the Holy Scriptures; and wherever you are, do not be moved easily. Keep these three things and you will be safe.”

As Matthew Green of Aleteia puts it, “We have to accept limitations, make sacrifices, and carry out work under conditions that won’t always be enjoyable or comfortable…we can’t let boredom and frustration separate us from what must be done. When we want to give up and do whatever we want without regard for anyone else, we have to look to God and to Christ on the cross.”

Consistency is key. We can all learn something from the liturgical churches here, where rhythm gives Christians something (prayers, readings for each day) to look forward to. If you attend a church that uses the Book of Common Prayer, look at the Morning and Evening prayer litany with its scripture readings and meditations. If you come from a less liturgical background, you can still create daily rhythms: start every morning with a simple prayer, sitting up from one’s bed instead of being on one’s phone. I pray the Jesus Prayer five times with deep breathing. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” (inhale), “have mercy on me a sinner,” (exhale), then repeat.

Small things can become habits. The more good things like prayer and Scripture meditation become habits, the more we will see change in our daily lives. As these habits become part of our lives, we can add to them and walk faithfully with God.

Trey Soto holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from Biola University and an M.A. in Communication Management from the University of Denver. He is a photographer, a writer, and a podcast host at T.V. Trey Podcast. You can see more of his work on his Wix portfolio.

This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy-to-read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. We hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in your life today.