The Sin of Worry

In verses 19-24 Jesus warns of the deceitfulness of riches. It is difficult for rich people to live for God because they are convinced that happiness comes from things. In these verses Jesus warns the poor. Both the poor and the rich face specific temptations that can draw them away from God. Proverbs 30:7-9 says,

“Two things have I required of thee deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full and deny Thee and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain”.

The writer says that he does not want to be rich because wealth brings with it the temptation to forget God. He also says that he does not want to be poor. The poor are tempted to do immoral things to get money and be angry with God.

The sin of worry

Three times in these passages Jesus tells us not to worry. The phrase “take no thought” used in verses 25, 31 and 34 literally means “Don’t worry” or “Don’t be anxious”. In context, Jesus prohibits worry about the necessities of life. Notice in verses 25 and 31 that Jesus tells us not to worry about food, drink and clothing. In Jesus day the threat of starvation and nakedness was real. Those who followed Him risked the possibility of persecution and excommunication (John 16:2). It would have taken serious faith to follow Christ if it meant losing everything you had. Christ wanted His hearers to count the cost and trust that God would provide for their needs.

Our day is a day of worry. Most everyone in our culture suffers from it in some degree. We have doctors that specialize in counseling with anxiety disorders. We have countless numbers of drugs that are prescribed each day to treat the problem of worry. However our anxiety is typically not the result of a fear of going hungry or naked.

1) We worry over the threat of losing our luxuries. We are so consumed with the idea that we may have to wear old clothes. We worry that we cannot have a specific type of food and an extra helping to go with it. We worry that we cannot have the new car or the bigger house. We worry that we won’t be accepted with the popular crowd. Our worries are not generally about life or death. They have to do with living a life of wants not needs. We don’t worry about whether we will live or die we worry about whether or not we will enjoy the life we live.

2) We worry about our reputations. We have become a vain people. We are preoccupied over what people think about us. Even in the church we worry over this. We wonder, “Does she like me?” “Are they mad at me?” “Do they think I’m a bad person?” As a result we are robbed of joy and relationships.

3) We worry about the future. Some worry that their kids will not be what they should be. Some worry if they will have the retirement they need to survive. Others worry if their marriage is going to make it or not. Some worry that they are going to die or someone they love is going to die.

The fact that Jesus commands us not to worry reveals something very important. It reveals that it is a sin to worry. The reason is very simple. Worry pushes God from our minds and places self at the center of our life. Jesus says in verse 25 that “life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment.” This means that there is something more important than physical life. It is spiritual life. Christ has provided us with that spiritual life already. He has given us the Bread of Life to eat, Living water to drink, and a robe of righteousness to wear. With the knowledge of that why we would ever doubt that He would provide us with the physical things we need to survive. It cost Him much more to feed and clothe us spiritually than it does to feed and clothe us physically. To doubt that He would provide us with the necessities of life is to call His character into question. That is why doubt is sin. It is essentially a charge against God. Worry is a sin because it says to God “You don’t care about me”. That is an insult and a serious mischaracterization.

The silliness of worry

Jesus tells us that it is silly to worry when we consider that God cares for the birds and the lilies. The word “behold” means “to look at”. Christ wants us to take a look at the lesser of God’s creation. He tells us that birds do not sow, reap or gather into barns yet God feeds them. Let’s consider some truths from Jesus analogy.

1) This proves that humans are more valuable in God’s eyes than animals. In fact He says at the end of verse 26 “Are ye not much better than they?” The animal rights activists would like you to think that humanity is equal with the animal world. This is not so. Secular science will teach you that man is an animal. That is not the case in God’s eyes. He values human life far above animal life.

2) This does not mean that we do not have to work. The text does say that the birds do not plant, reap or gather into barns. However, it does not mean that God simply drops worms into their mouths. Birds do not have the capacity to farm like humans do. We are created in the image of God and are far more intelligent than the rest of creation. The birds build their nests, search for food and some even store food away for a later time. Jesus point is that the birds always have something to eat. How much more should we trust that God will feed us? God has given us the ability to plant, reap and store food away. As we are faithful to do our part we can be sure that He will do His.

How silly it is for us to worry when we consider the birds. They never grow hungry. God loves us more than the birds. As well, we have the ability to grow, store and prepare food. God has made sure we will have what we need. By the way, it’s impossible for us to starve to death as long as there are animals to eat! They should be more worried about starving to death than we are.

Christ also tells us to look at the lilies (28). These would be wild flowers that decorated the countryside in Jesus day. These flowers did not have the ability to labor or spin clothing. Yet these flowers were more beautiful than the fine clothing worn by the famous and wealthy King Solomon. Let’s consider some truths from this analogy.

1) People often have a preoccupation about outward appearance. This is true for our culture. Clothing stores are abundant in every city. We want to wear beautiful, stylish and popular clothing. We scream “I don’t have anything to wear” while we stare at a closet full of clothes. The flowers do not labor at all for their clothing. Many people today spend their whole paycheck on it.

2) God clothes the flowers of the field even though they are short lived. Flowers quickly turn to withered grass. This dried grass would be used in Jesus day to heat ovens (30). The beautiful flowers quickly became fuel for the fire. God lavishly clothes the temporal flowers. Why would we doubt that He would not clothe humans? We have been created for eternity?

It is silly to worry when we consider the birds. None of them are on any medication. They don’t have an appointment with the shrink. It is silly for us to worry when we consider the flowers. They do nothing and are very short lived, yet God beautifully clothes them. Finally, it is silly to worry when we recognize that worry does not help us one bit.

In verse 27 Jesus asks a question. He asks “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” This means “Who could worry about being short long enough to grow eighteen inches?” the answer is obvious. No one can change their height.

* Worry can change us. It can turn us into bitter, joyless people with no hope at all. It can affect us physically as well. We lose sleep, lose weight, get ulcers, and headaches. We lose time with our family. We become impossible to be around. We forfeit fun and relationships. Worry can and will change us. But it will not change us for the better.

* Worry cannot change our circumstances. It is true that the majority of things we worry about never come to pass. Yet even if they do come to pass we accomplish nothing worrying about them. We simply lengthen our time of suffering. In verse 34 Jesus tells us that there is enough evil in today. We shouldn’t be worrying about the evil in tomorrow. “Evil” should be understood as any trial or suffering on our part. God will use it for good but we perceive it as evil. The truth of the matter is that tomorrow could be terrible for us. We could lose a loved one. We could be diagnosed with a disease. We could lose our job. However, worrying about those things will not change them

*Worry shortens our ability to enjoy life. We may not die early because we worry. We will, however, miss a lot of opportunity of joy in life if we worry.

If some terrible trial does come into our life we have the promise of Jesus that “the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself”. In other words, God will give us grace tomorrow for tomorrow’s trials. He may not take them from us but He will take us through them. It is silly for us to worry when we consider that God’s grace will follow us into tomorrow. The Psalmist said in Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” No matter how “evil” the trial, God’s grace is sufficient to take us through it. We sometimes think about a particular evil happening to us and say “I just don’t think I could make it if that happened”. If we are children of God, that is not true. God will always make a way of escape for His people. God gives us dying grace for dying days. When you need a greater measure that is when you will get it.

The secret to overcoming worry

Jesus tells us in verse 32 that the Gentiles are seeking after food, drink and clothing. In other words they are living only for the things in this world. They do not have a God that cares for them. They think that if they are going to survive it will be because they take care of themselves. They believe this because they do not have a Heavenly Father. What Jesus is teaching us that when we worry we act like people who do not have a God that they can call Father. Let’s consider a few things from verses 32-33 that will help us overcome worry.

* Be assured that God knows everything about you. “Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things”.

1) God knows what you need. Sometimes it is hard for us to discern between needs and wants. Be assured God will give you what you need. Right now you have everything you need plus many things you want. It scares me to think about how our attitudes may be if we had only what we needed. We are a blessed people. Our cup is running over. It is a shame that we would worry about our future when we know that in our present and past God has always given us what we need and more to live in this world. He is never caught off guard. He is omniscient. Not one of His children is out of His sight or out of His mind. Don’t worry! God has got you covered. He knows tomorrow’s needs.

2) God knows when you need what you need. Don’t be impatient. If you need a child, you’ll get him when God knows you need him. If you need the raise, you’ll get it in due time. If you need a trial to be over, it will pass at just the right moment.

3) God knows why you need what you get. Sometimes things come into our lives that we do not think we need. Be assured that there are no accidents in the believer’s life. All things are working together for our good and God’s glory. Sometimes it may take years for us to understand why something has happened. Some things we may never understand. God knows why things happen in our life and we should trust His heart.

* Focus your energy on preparing for the next world, not living comfortably in this one. Jesus says in verse 33 “Seek first the kingdom of God.” This means that we are to make it our priority to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every time a person gets saved the kingdom of God grows. In verse 10 we were taught to pray “Thy kingdom come”. Now we are told to put feet to that prayer. If we spend our time worrying about our comfort in this world we probably are not going to labor for the coming kingdom. Worry will keep us from giving to the work of God. It will also keep us from working for the kingdom. God promises us that if we make His kingdom our priority that He will take care of us.

* Seek to live a righteous life, not a comfortable one. First we need to remember that worry is a sin. Therefore, we need to quit worrying if we want to live righteously! It should be our priority to please God, not have Him please us. I think we could all say that we do not give God what He deserves. Why, then should we make demands of Him in our life. God is greater than we are. He deserves to the priority in our life. It is only by grace that we have become a priority of His. If we want to combat worry we should focus our attention on living a righteous life that pleases our heavenly Father. We can do that if we are rich, poor, sick or healthy. His grace will enable us. We have all we need. We will always have all we need. God will make sure of that. Let’s focus on giving God what He deserves, our trust and our lives.