George Herbert Quote – 5 Reasons Why Worrying Can Be a Sin

– George Herbert

5 Reasons Why Worrying Can Be a Sin

George Herbert is delivering a powerful point. There is a big difference between being liberated from your problems and worrying. Many people often fall into a trap of worrying to “fix their problems.” They fall for the very common misconception that worrying about something is the same as doing something about it. Christians are not immune to this. There is a black and white difference between worrying and taking action.

The difference really boils down to action. Actions solve problems and puts you on the road to recovery. Worrying does none of those. If you think that’s bad enough, for Christians, worrying can also be a sin. Here are five reasons why worrying can be sinful:

Reason #1: When you worry, your mind isn’t focused on God

Which is bigger? Your God or your problems? I hope this is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, when we’re facing a challenge, it’s easy to panic and feel desperate. We basically end up chasing our tails and worrying. We get so overwhelmed by the enormity of our problems that we forget how big our God is. You have to remember you are serving a God and you’re confessing loyalty to a God that spoke the world into being.

That’s how powerful God is. When we worry our focus shifts from the power of God and the power of miracles to the power of our problems.

Reason #2: When you worry, you rely more on your strength than on God

The default position we can find ourselves in when we pray is that we are relying on our strength. Nothing else really fully describes the situation where you are just basically repeating the same prayers to God, but your heart is closed because your mind and body is so focused on your problems. Make no mistake about it, if you want a miracle in your life and you want true deliverance, you must rely on the only power that can truly deliver you, which is Jesus Christ. This means full trust in Him. This doesn’t mean that you should stop taking action. What this does mean is that there has to be full trust in Him that He will deliver you through His way.

Reason #3: Worrying is an admission that your problems are bigger than God

It’s too easy to have a relationship with Jesus where we basically go through the motions and we put on the mask when we’re talking to Jesus in a very formalistic way. But deep down, based on our behavior, based on how we think, we really are more focused on our problems. We become so concerned with our limitations and our pain that it’s very easy to overlook the fact that God is more powerful than our problems. God is bigger than whatever challenges us. By admitting that worrying is wrong and refocusing on Jesus Christ, we get back on the road to real recovery and real deliverance.

Reason #4: Worrying means you’re focused on what you can see instead of faith

When we worry, we basically are just rehashing certain scenarios in our mind over and over. In other words, we are wishing for something that we can see so that we can stop worrying. This is the complete opposite of faith. Faith brings peace, inner closure, and strength. When we worry, we aren’t strengthened because we know that the answer is always zero. We just keep going on and on and on and it never ends. It’s like we are mentally and emotionally chasing our tails.

When we worry we always hang on to these solutions or to these mental habits of trying to do something about our problems when we’re basically just spinning our wheels. We have to let go and hang on to Jesus Christ.

Reason #5: When you worry, you hold God’s blessings at arm’s length

The truth is that Jesus is always knocking on the door of your heart. The book of Revelation says so. Jesus wants to make a home with you. He wants to live in your heart and He brings blessings along. Unfortunately, you keep him at the door when you worry. When you worry, you basically have house guests called “challenges” and “problems”, and Jesus is knocking at the door and you’re too busy attending to your guests. Stop hanging on to your worries and stop focusing on what limits you. Instead, let the door of your heart open so Jesus Christ can come in with His blessings, with His deliverance and with His friendship.