Anxiety and Christ

The word "anxiety" has been thrown around these days a lot more than it has in the past several decades.  According to the American Psychological Association anxiety is defined as:

 an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure (APA.org, 2022)

Some Verses about anxiety in the Bible: 

[Psa 38:18 NASB95] 18 For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

[Pro 12:25 NASB95] 25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

Anxiety can eat away at a person and put unhealthy attention on problems both big and small. Although I have never been diagnosed with with any sort of anxiety disorder, I have always struggled with intense worry, tension, and other thoughts. I have struggled with it ever since 5th or 6th grade when I placed, on my self,  pressure to be a perfect student. Although I was a Christian, going to church and participating in youth groups, I did not truly let the word of Christ and the Bible "seep" into my most inner-mind. It was not until recently that I started to allow the Word of God to truly permeate my mind and begin to create a true mind change. 

Now circumstance and choices in my life have led to a quite difficult place. I, more than ever, need to rely on the Word of God, or else I can easily be consumed by this world and go down the way of sin and not choose Christ. Now, I know that I will never loose my salvation or be turned away from eternity, but I want to live in overwhelming knowledge of the Grace of Christ. 

In the book of Matthew, Jesus talks about anxiety and tells to live the days, day-by-day and to not let the worries of the tomorrow consume our thinking. 

Jesus explains in the Sermon on the Mount to Israel about the importance of returning to Godly thinking and to not be consumed by this world. Now Matthew is written TO Israel and Jews during the time of the Law. Although the blessings and curses aspect do not apply to current Church-age believers, we can still glean the importance of focusing on the Eternal Perspective: 

[Mat 6:31-34 NASB95] 31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The epistles also resound in practical knowledge that tell us to think about the things above and not the worries of this world. 

[Col 3:1-2 NASB20] 1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things [that are] above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things [that are] above, not on the things that are on earth.

[1Pe 5:7 NASB95] 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

We are to be consumed with Christ, not this world. We are to live in the moment, make positive choices that will impact the future. We are still allowed to plan for it. BUT we ( I need this too) need to focus on today as tomorrow may never come. We need to live in service of others and love everyone around us, especially those near to us. 

-Until Next Time