Researchers from Harvard and the University of Utah have reported on their study of dishonest behavior. The interesting conclusion was: “people were 20% to 50% more likely to be dishonest in the afternoon” than in the morning.
This “dishonest behavior” was not necessarily major offenses, but would include things such as making a coworker look bad or covering up personal mistakes. As the day wears on and wears you down, normal and average people are more prone to cut moral corners. They also discovered that those with more ethical standards were the most susceptible to this afternoon moral fatigue.
Probably all of us have experienced this as we grow physical and/or mentally tired. We will do things that we shouldn’t and normally wouldn’t do. But weariness is no excuse for sin.
This is a reminder to all of us that the battle to be faithful people of the Light and of Truth, to reflect Christ in our lives day in and day out, is not easy and certainly not natural. Satan knows our weak spots and attacks when our minds are weary and our bodies tired.
As God’s people, we need to be on the alert and redouble our efforts to “speak the truth in love,” to obey His commandments constantly, and to “take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” This is why we need to pray “without ceasing,” maybe especially as our day progresses.
We who profess Christ must seek to be faithful reflections of Him to the world around us even at our worst, even at 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon.
But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. I Thessalonians 4:10-12
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