Worry, we all do it from time to time. It seems to be a natural part of our human makeup, so much so that we can’t help but worry. The Bible, however, tells us we shouldn’t worry. In fact, according to the Bible worrying is a sin because worrying means we fail to trust in and submit our lives to God.

How do we deal with worry? Last night, while reading through an old Bible of mine, I found a note I had taken written in the margin entitled “6 arguments to help us battle worry“. I don’t know who I was reading or listening to at the time, so I don’t know to whom to attribute the note, but I thought it was too good not to share.

6 Arguments to Help Us Battle Worry

Note: All six arguments are derived from Matthew 6:25-34.

(1) Our priorities shouldn’t be concerned with those things that are temporary, but with the immortal

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25, ESV)

(2) God’s providence over lesser creatures should serve as comfort for those who have a personal relationship with God. 

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?… And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:26;28-30, ESV)

(3) Common sense tells us that worry doesn’t do us any good.

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Matthew 6:27, ESV)

(4) Worry is a pagan way of thinking. The way non-believers deal with life.

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Matthew 6:32, ESV)

(5) God is our Father. He is a personal God who knows His children’s needs.

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Matthew 6:32, ESV)

(6) Common sense tells us that we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We can’t look into the future, so we shouldn’t worry about it.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:34, ESV)

Question for Reflection

1. What other scriptural arguments help you deal with worry from a Christian perspective?

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