THE CURE FOR ANXIETY
MATTHEW 6:19-34
1. DETERMINE WHAT IS TRULY VALUABLE.
A. What do you treasure?
Mt 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
Commercial about the couch– 2 girls talking about her new couch. she said "This is so me, I just had to have it."
scene cuts to 2 criminals in their dark living room looking at her couch. One of them says "I saw this couch and it's so me that I just had to have it."
* as a kid growing up- sentimental- wanted stuff- parents died- things weren’t valuable to me, I missed them. I didn’t want a single thing.
* If our House burned- Lana-pictures most valuable- about experience, not stuff.. For me, my computer, books, sermon file. (My ministry)
What if our Taxidermy burned??- Lana said it would give us an excuse to go hunt more animals.
** Everything you own is temporary. If it’s not destroyed first it will be burned up by fire at the end of the age.
** What ought to be most important? Your relationship with Christ and your family/friends. If you truly treasure these things most, then you won’t place too much value on “stuff”.
* Everything that you do for God is safely stored for you in Heaven. At the end of your life, your things won’t matter. The only thing that will matter is your salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ.
B. Where is your focus?
Mt 6:22-23 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
When you love your stuff, your focus changes to whatever you value.
Show me your checkbook and credit card statement and I can figure out what you really love. How much is spent on travel, leisure, eating out, cars, etc and compare that to your tithe and offerings. It becomes easy to determine if you really love God or do you love stuff?
C. Who is your Master?
Mt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
There is a guy I knew that had a lot of money. A lot. He watched the stock market every single day. When the market went down, he would worry a lot and it was all he talked about. He was a generous man, but with bad market, he would regret his previous generosity. One day as he was complaining I told him “I used to think you had a lot of money, but I’ve come to understand that you don’t have money, your money has you!”
Be careful that the things you enjoy don’t control and consume you. Any thing can become an idol. Keep things in perspective.
What is truly valuable? Your relationship with Jesus Christ, your salvation, and your relationship with your family and friends.
2. REALIZE HOW VALUABLE YOU ARE.
Often we worry because we somehow think that God does not even know our situation, and if He does, we wonder if He even cares. We suffer from insecurity because we do not realize just how much God loves us and how valuable we are to Him. When we come to fully understand how much God truly loves us, worry should not be a problem. Here, Jesus points out 3 reasons not to worry.
Reasons Not to Worry.
(1) Worry is Sinful
Mt 6:25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
“For this reason”- look back. Jesus is talking about “Who is Master?” If God really is your Master, then your worrying reveals a lack of faith in Him. Your lack of faith is a sin. What core beliefs are you revealing about God by worrying?
* You don’t trust His Power. Some of you are praying but continue to worry. You are telling God... I know you created all things.... I know you parted the Red Sea... I know you rose from the dead.. but my problems are too big for you to handle.
* You don’t trust His Love. Even though God has told you repeatedly that He loves you... repeatedly shown that He loves you... When you worry you are doubting His love. He can change your situation, but you don’t believe He cares..... Perfect love casts out fear! Your love.
(2) Worry is Unnecessary.
Mt 6:26, 28-30 26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
God loves all of His Creation, but He loves you and me above everything else that He created.
* If He does so much for the birds, the lilies, and the grass of the field, how much more will He take care of you. He loves you above all else.
(3) Worry is Pointless.
Mt 6:27, 31-32 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 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.
Even if worrying wasn’t sinful. Even if worrying was unnecessary.
It would still be pointless.
1. Worrying doesn’t change your situation for the better, in fact it can often make things worse.
2. The Father knows your needs and He will meet your needs if you trust Him.
3. RECEIVE THE BLESSINGS OF LASTING VALUE.
Mt 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
When I was a young guy, I had a list of things I wanted in life.
* To hunt all over America for all sorts of animals.
* To take family on awesome vacations when kids got old enough.
* To drive better vehicles than the “hooptys” we were driving.
But just about the time my finances were getting to where I could do these things, God did something in my life. He changed everything. My hopes, desires, plans were all transformed to what He desired.
* I began doing missions trips, so I gave up my travel plans.
* I went to seminary and struggled to make it working less than 40 hrs per week.
* I started tithing.
*** With all these choices there came many sacrifices. We learned to live on much less. As a family we gave up most of the things that I wanted for us. But another thing had changed, we no longer cared about those things.
* Time moved on and God grew my missions ministry, He blessed us financially, and blessed us in many other ways.
* Looking back, everything that we chose to give up to serve Him, He added those things back to us even better than we had planned.
YOU CAN’T OUTGIVE GOD!!
4. FREE YOURSELF FROM WORRY!
Mt 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
* Procrastinate your worrying. Jesus said it right here. And, in the words of Scarlet O’hara..... “I’m not gonna worry ‘bout that right now, I’ll worry about that tomorrow, for tomorrow is another day.”
* Realize that most things you worry about never happen anyway.
Ex.. Old man lying on his deathbed said that his life was filled with troubles..... most of which never happened.
* Don’t try to guess what is on someone else’s mind. You’d be surprised how little they have in there anyway!
And, you’re usually wrong about what they’re thinking anyway.
* If you’re always worried about what people think about you, remember this..... People aren’t thinking about you as much as you think they are!
* When you’re worked up about something, work out! Exercise is a great stress reliever. Weightlifting, running, etc. But the best is punching a body bag..... pretending it is the object of your anxiety.
