“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25, NIV)
Worry is the anxiety we feel that is fostered by uncertainty regarding the future. Jesus spoke to this in the middle of The Sermon on the Mount, giving six reasons why we are not to worry.
1. Do not worry because you are valuable to God.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26, NIV)
2. Worry does not change anything.
“Can any one of your by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27, NIV)
3. God regularly demonstrates his faithfulness.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you–you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28-30, NIV)
4. Worry betrays our claims of faith and trust in God.
“So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things.” (Matthew 6:31-32, NIV)
5. God already knows your needs.
“…and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (Matthew 6:32b, NIV)
6. Our priority is to focus on the Kingdom of God and trust God’s promise to care for us.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34, NIV)