As we enter into a New Year …with new hopes and dreams to be actualized, perhaps it’s a good time to consider is procrastination a barrier for you to accomplishing those hopes and dreams?
Before we get into your plans for 2026, I welcome you to look in the rearview mirror of 2025 – use this worksheet for reflection by Dale Wilsher; motivational Coach @ Your Authentic Personality.
Procrastination in Scripture often looks like:
God’s invitations are often time-sensitive, not because He is impatient, but because delayed obedience can become disobedience.
If you are aware that you procrastinate how is it stifling you from living a more fulfilling life? A person who lives with procrastination typically deals with a mix of negative emotions such as fear, shame, guilt, even self-hatred. You may live with a constant inner critic that wages war in your mind with messages that are self-defeating.
It’s important to acknowledge that patterns of responding come to us by way of childhood origin and are an aspect of our ‘development’. We may simply lack the tools to do something and be afraid to ask for help, for fear of criticism or rejection, which can lead to a fear of failure, and failure was related to punishment, or even humiliation.
A person with complex trauma may not want to accomplish too much because it gets them noticed. They’ve learned that it’s safer to stay invisible. Growing up in a chaotic environment may have registered ‘danger’ making it hard to focus on a task. It was easier to find mindless distractions that burn up nervous energy. Procrastination is a FLIGHT response – and was the way our body responded to danger or stress by avoiding or escaping.
A child with parental figures who had unresolved emotional or control issues may have perpetuated the procrastination by way of doing everything for the child. Behaviors such as impatience, perfectionism, overly image-conscious, or codependence (always wanting the child to be happy) may stifle the child from growing in self-sufficiency.
Someone who procrastinates often will see themselves as a victim of their circumstances and can easily fall into a state of self-pity. Some people procrastinate more when their responsibilities involve people, while others struggle more when they have to accomplish a task on their own.
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When the apostle Paul was imprisoned and brought before Felix, the Roman governor, Paul speaks to Felix about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. The message deeply affects Felix—so much so that Scripture says he became afraid.
Yet instead of responding, repenting, or changing, Felix says:
“Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
(Acts 24:25)
That “convenient time” never comes. Felix delays his response to truth, and two years pass with no change. Eventually, he leaves office, still unmoved.
How this is a story about procrastination:
This is procrastination at a spiritual level — not laziness, but putting off obedience because change feels costly.
