Where I go to church, we have what used to be called “Sunday School”. I guess to change with the times we have changed the names of them to “Life Groups”. Our Life Group starts at 9:15a.m. and we usually have a full room of people. Invariably, there is one couple who comes in at 10:15a.m. Our Life Group teacher is very mercy motivated and he stops what he is doing and welcomes this couple and helps them find seats. Needless to say, when the couple comes in it is very disruptive.

If you are a believer, being late is a sign of spiritual immaturity. It is also selfish and rude. Now, let me say that I understand there are times that you may be late and it may be beyond your control but when it is a consistent problem, that is different.

I found this from the “Prolific Living” website:

Being late does not make you an important person or a special person. You may be both but not by being late.

Being late once or twice in your life may be unavoidable. Being late consistently makes you unreliable.

Being late means you do not respect the other person’s time. Period.

Being late makes you a rude person because you lack consideration and respect for the other person and for the commitment you made to both of you.

Your apologies for being late, however profuse and sincere, do not excuse the tardy. (I am not saying not to apologize, I am saying not to be late!)

Your reasons for being late simply insult the other person’s intelligence.

Let me add this, being late just shows how selfish you are.

Our scriptural example is in Matthew 25 with the story of the ten virgins. Five of them had enough oil for their lamps, five of them didn’t. The five that didn’t had to go and find oil for their lamps and while they were gone, the bridegroom came and they were left behind.

Do you struggle with being on time? Here are five points I found on the Penelope Trunk website:

1. Schedule the event into your calendar.
If you block out time to be somewhere then you won't be doing something else when it's time to go. I amazed myself when I tried to do this. I discovered I had enough on my schedule to last 48 hours a day. It would have been impossible for me to be on time for anything.
(Note: If you are a person who is about to recommend to me that I read Getting Things Done in order to be better at time management.)

2. Practice saying what you need to say.
Here's a great thing to say: "Excuse me, I hate to cut you off, but I have an appointment." It is hard to cut someone off, but they will respect you for sticking to a schedule. The higher up you go in corporate life, the stricter the people stick to a schedule. The good news is that this means it's perfectly acceptable in work life to say this short speech. Get comfortable doing it at work and then you can do it at home, too. Often saying no takes forethought and practice.

3. Be a time pessimist.
Assume everything will take a little longer than your first estimate. This will either make you right on time for everything, or it'll make you a little early. People who run early are calm, organized, and always ready. Not a bad place to be.

4. Prioritize.
Some people are late because they simply don't have enough time to do everything. The only way to change this is to stop doing so much. Face the reality that you cannot get your whole list done. Figure out what's most important and just get that done. Tell the people who depend on you – like your boss — that you can only do what you have time for, and things at the bottom of the their list of priorities will not get done: a reality check for everyone in your life. (Another Getting Things Done note: The only people I know who are really good at prioritizing have read the book.)

5. Be honest with yourself.
Why do you let yourself be late? It is disrespectful and makes you look unorganized and out of control. Why are you not getting control over your time. So much about being on time is actually about self-knowledge. Often, we are scared to make the decisions that we must make in order to get control over our time and become someone who runs on schedule. But there is no other way to run a life. To run on schedule is to plan the life you want to live and execute that plan.

If you have a problem of being on time, with God’s help you can beat it! Ask Him to help you and follow some of the simple steps above.