The Bible gives us five actions we can take to stop procrastinating.

Stop making excuses — What have you been saying you’re going to do — one of these days? Things will never settle down. You must make a choice to priorities what is important.

Start today — Not next month, next week, or tomorrow. I want you to write down three things you know God wants you to do. Choose one of those three and decide to start today.

Establish a planned schedule — If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. You need to designate some specific time slots each week for the things you need to do.

Face your fears — We hate to admit we have fears because we think they are a sign of weakness. But fear is a sign of humanity. Only fools are not afraid.

Focus on what you gain, not the pain — There are very few things in life that are easy. You must push through the frustration and look at the gain beyond the pain.

Don’t ask, “What do I feel like doing?” Instead ask, “What does God want me to do?”

Jesus never said life would be easy. There will be sacrifice and commitment. But there is tremendous reward when we do the things he calls us to do.

Rick Warren

The Bible gives us five actions we can take to stop procrastinating.

Stop making excuses — What have you been saying you’re going to do — one of these days? Things will never settle down. You must make a choice to priorities what is important.

Start today — Not next month, next week, or tomorrow. I want you to write down three things you know God wants you to do. Choose one of those three and decide to start today.

Establish a planned schedule — If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. You need to designate some specific time slots each week for the things you need to do.

Face your fears — We hate to admit we have fears because we think they are a sign of weakness. But fear is a sign of humanity. Only fools are not afraid.

Focus on what you gain, not the pain — There are very few things in life that are easy. You must push through the frustration and look at the gain beyond the pain.

Don’t ask, “What do I feel like doing?” Instead ask, “What does God want me to do?”

Jesus never said life would be easy. There will be sacrifice and commitment. But there is tremendous reward when we do the things he calls us to do.

Rick Warren

When you procrastinate you’re saying one of two things to yourself, “It’s easier to avoid this than to face it” and that’s wrong. 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.

Procrastination hurts people — Laziness prevents us from being loving. Love requires commitment, energy, and work. A lot of people just don’t want to work at being loving; it’s easier to be lazy. Many marriages break up because one spouse — perhaps both spouses – are unwilling to make the effort necessary to save the marriage.

Prayerfully consider the price you may be paying for procrastination.

By Rick Warren