Bible Verses About Working Diligently Apply to Everyone (Proverbs 13:4)

Proverbs 13:4 says, "The soul of the diligent is swiftly supplied." The Bible verses about working diligently should encourage and challenge everyone. Read or listen to this chapter from Work and Rest God’s Way to learn about diligence in the Bible. Table of contentsThe Importance of DiligenceApply the Principle of Putting Off and Putting OnRemember, Stopping Is Only the First StepPut on Working DiligentlyProverbs Are Generalities, but not GuaranteesWorking Diligently Produces WealthWorking Diligently Leads to PromotionsMy Example from Army ROTCJoseph's ExampleDavid's ExampleJesus's ExampleWorking Diligently Means Finishing What You BeginWorking Diligently Produces SatisfactionA Diligent HeartSpiritual DiligenceFootnotes The Importance of Diligence Maybe you’re reading this book because you want to be more diligent, repent of laziness, find joy in work, learn to rest, or all of the above. Changing is hard. As a pastor, I’ve heard many people say, “I’m going to stop this” or “I’m going to start that.” I’ve said the same myself. Only 64 percent of New Year’s resolutions last longer than the first month, and only 46 percent last longer than six months. We often begin well, but within a short period of time, we find ourselves resuming what we committed to stopping or stopping what we committed to starting. How can we change…for good? Apply the Principle of Putting Off and Putting On The single greatest reason we fail to change, at least regarding sin, is we “put off” without “putting on.” When we hear the word “repent,” unfortunately we often think only of stopping, but we must also think of starting. If there’s a sin we want to repent of, we must replace it with a corresponding behavior. John the Baptist is a man whose message can be summarized in the word “repent.” He said, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8 and Luke 3:8). We don’t typically associate repentance (stopping) with bearing fruit (starting), but we should. The apostle Paul also knew how to preach repentance. In Acts 26:20 he said, “Repent, turn to God (stopping), and do works befitting repentance (starting).” This is known as putting off and putting on, or severing and replacing, and it’s explained in Ephesians 4: Verse 25 says, “Put away lying.” This is what we put off, followed by: “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor.” This is what we put on. We can’t simply stop lying. We must also make a conscious effort to start telling the truth; ensure what we say is accurate. Verse 28 says, “Let him who stole steal no longer.” This is what we put off, followed by: “Rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” We can’t simply stop stealing. We must replace theft with hard work and generosity. Since this is a book about work’s blessings, it’s worth noticing that it serves as a remedy for theft! Verse 29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth.” This is what we put off, followed by: “But what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” We can’t simply stop saying unwholesome things. We must intentionally speak words that edify and encourage. Verse 31 sums it up: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Put off all this, and then put on verse 32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Paul makes the same point in Colossians 3: Verse 8 says, “Now you are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” Verses 12 and 13 say, “Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.” When we repent of the sins in verse 8, we’ll produce the fruit in verse 12. The actions are presented in opposing pairs. If there’s a sin that you need to repent of, but it is not mentioned in these verses, determine the opposite of that sin. More than likely that is what you need to put on. Remember, Stopping Is Only the First Step The second step is starting the accompanying behavior that fills the vacuum that was created. In the parable of the unclean spirit, Jesus described the danger of taking the first step (putting off) without taking the second (putting on). Matthew 12:43–45 records: When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then [the unclean spirit] says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. At first, things seem good because the unclean spirit (sin) is removed from the man’s life. Unfortunately, he didn’t fill the void, and as a result, his life (the house), remained empty. The man ended up worse off than when the unclean spirit left. This reveals the unfortunate human tendency for reform to be temporary. Psychologists, prisons, and juvenile centers testify to this. People will be sorry, stop for a little while, but soon find themselves doing the same thing again. Why? They fail to produce the necessary fruit. In counseling, people who thought they repented will say “I stopped this. Why do I keep struggling?” My reply is, “You stopped, but what did you start? You put off, but what did you put on?” Let me give you some practical examples: You stopped going to bars, but what did you start doing? You stopped yelling at your kids, but what did you start saying to them? You stopped watching things you should not, but did you start reading your Bible more? You stopped coveting, but did you start giving? When there’s sin in your life, make sure your prayers are twofold. First, ask the Lord, “What do you want me to repent of and put off?” Then, “What accompanying fruit do you want me to produce and put on?” Put on Working Diligently The practice of putting off and putting on should be applied to multiple areas of the Christian life, including work and rest. Everyone struggles with laziness to some extent. If we’re going to put it off, what should we put on? Diligence! Whether we’re lazy physically, mentally, or spiritually, we need diligence! We put off whatever form of laziness we struggle with and commit to being diligent. The Prodigal Son is a good example. His first request was, “Father, give me” (Luke 15:12). When he repented and returned home, his second request was, “Make me like one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:19). He put off the lazy, entitled attitude that got him into trouble, and he put on the humble, diligent attitude of a servant. Back in Hebrews 6:11–12, the author said, “Show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become lazy.” If they were going to persevere, they needed to put off laziness and put on diligence. What is diligence? According to Dictionary.com, diligence is “constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent exertion of body or mind.” Diligent people get the job done. They don’t quit until they have completed the job. The Bible uses the word “diligence” in several ways, and just as sluggard is always used negatively, diligence is always used positively. Although the words “put off” and “put on” are not used in the book of Proverbs, there are repeated demonstrations of this principle by the discussion of these pairs: Wisdom versus foolishness Patience versus hastiness Pride versus humility Truth versus deceit Obedience versus disobedience Righteousness versus unrighteousness Proverbs encourages putting off laziness and putting on diligence by frequently coupling them together. Proverbs Are Generalities, but not Guarantees The book of Proverbs contains life principles that are generally true, but they’re not guarantees. This must be understood before digging into the verses because of the health and wealth preachers who distort the gospel. They misuse proverbs to teach that God wants people to become rich, be promoted, and never lose a job, but the following verses don’t make these promises. Instead, they commend hard work and condemn laziness. They encourage the diligent and warn the slothful. Working Diligently Produces Wealth He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame (Proverbs 10:4–5). There’s a clear cause-and-effect relationship between diligence and its rewards, and laziness and its heartbreaking consequences. It pays, literally, to be diligent; they reap wealth as their reward. The lazy have only themselves to blame, and they reap the consequences of their actions: poverty. A “slack handed person” slacks off at work, or slacks off in looking for work. When people don’t have a job, their full-time job is looking for work. Warren Wiersbe said: “A new college graduate was asked if he was looking for work. He thought for a minute and then replied, ‘No, but I would like to have a job.’ That seems to be the attitude of too many people today.”199 Just as laziness and diligence are contrasted, so are work (gathers in summer) and sleep. Just as ants store food for the winter ahead, so do the diligent prepare for the future: “He who tills his land will have plenty of bread” (Proverbs 12:11 and 28:19). This is repeated to make the point that work allows people to eat. Diligence is manifested in the foresight to store up food in the summer rather than sleep through the harvest. Just as lazy people sleep while the ant works, they also sleep while the diligent work. Why mention sons? Diligent children bless their parents. Conversely,