In my early twenties, chagrined by my messy house, I complained to my older friend, Phyllis: “I’m just so lazy, I never get anything done.”
With a soft face and a twinkle in her eye, Phyllis said, “You’re not lazy, you’re just unmotivated.”
“Unmotivated”—that was a different story. Lazy felt like the color of my eyes—unchangeable. Unmotivated felt like a hairstyle. I could change a hairstyle, in fact, I often did. When Phyllis labeled me unmotivated rather than lazy, she handed me hope.
The label change gave me hope because “unmotivated” told the truth. Carrying great grief over childhood pain, I stumbled through my early adulthood, my energy given to carrying the burden. As I let Jesus carry more of my burden, I found more energy to not only clean my house, but also to parent my child, love my husband and succeed in graduate school.
Phyllis was right; I was not lazy, I was grieving. Grief takes energy.
How about you? Maybe you’re unmotivated, too. Even though you’re in good health, your energy is low. Lazy isn’t the word. Burdened, weary, grieving, maybe, but not lazy. Let’s be careful how we label ourselves.
Jesus, when we feel unmotivated, we label ourselves lazy. When we feel weak, we label ourselves unimportant. When we feel unworthy, we label ourselves worthless. Teach us today your labels for us; labels full of your truth and your love.