Have you ever wondered why the Honor Code includes diligence in study?  I mean, honesty, upright conduct…sure, they make sense in a code of honor.  But isn’t “diligence in study” just a fancy of way for your teachers to tell you to do our homework every night? 

Maybe.  But consider diligence for a moment.  It is defined as “careful and persistent work or effort.”  It is one of the seven capital virtues, and its opposite is the deadly sin of sloth—habitual laziness or refusal to work.

But don’t think of it simply as a matter of work habits.  At its core, diligence and sloth are dispositions of our hearts, not just our hands.  Dante, in the Divine Comedy, calls sloth “love defective.”  He recognized that a disposition toward diligence or sloth ultimately reveals what or who we love.

This is why, Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians, “[w]hatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord….”  Yes, that includes your studies.  You may not be the most gifted student, or academics may come to you easily; you may not get the highest grades or you might ace every test with little effort; you may find school endlessly fascinating…or endlessly dull.  But just remember, those things are secondary: choosing sloth over diligence is ultimately an act of selfishness.

The obligation to be diligent does not depend upon your talent or your taste…because it is not about you.  Every Columbus Classical Academy student ought to be diligent in study, because, whatever we’re doing, diligence is not just hard work; it is an act of love.