IS WORRY SIN?

 

 

Worry/anxiety can be good or bad, as anger, judging, and jealousy can be used righteously or unrighteously. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, even by worry, except without sinning.

·       Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

 This means that worry and even desires are not sins in themselves. If all worry is sinful then vertigo and a sore throat are sinful! Instead, they can either turn us to Jesus or away from Him:

·       Psalm 56:3–4 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

 

“I shall not be afraid” doesn’t mean that the Psalmist believes that he will never again experience fear, an often-appropriate human reaction. Instead, it suggests that when fear comes, the Psalmist will not panic and run or suppress the feeling but instead will turn to the Lord and recall how he has been delivered in the past:

·       2 Corinthians 1:10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

Worry and fear are normal and needful. They alert us to dangers. Perhaps the foremost danger is that they might cause us to trust in ourselves, leading to self-righteousness, instead of to God to handle the various threats in our lives. Paul explained that he had to be delivered from self-trust before he could learn to trust in God alone:

·       2 Corinthians 1:8–9 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

It is also about meditating on how God has faithfully delivered many throughout the pages of the Bible, often after waiting:

·       1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

To refuse to turn to God, to wait, and to endure is the sin.