Evangelical Pastor on 'Things I Wish Jesus Never Said': Christians Shouldn't Worry
The pastor of Mariners Church in Southern California tackled the next topic in the series "Things I Wish Jesus Never Said," addressing the topic of worry.
Kenton Beshore, who serves as the senior pastor of the 14,000-member church, said in the April 10 sermon that he wishes Jesus never ordered Christians not to worry in Matthew 6:25, because to him, worrying about your life can feel responsible.
The verse reads: "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? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life."
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When Christians worry about their finances, children, grandchildren, and career, it can give them a false sense of control over their life, Beshore explains. Rather, Christians should submit their worries to God, and trust that He will take care of them.
Although it is responsible to maintain your life to the best of your ability, "there is a thin line between anticipating and planning and worry."
Christians must try to balance active responsibility with excessive worrying because "when you worry, you reduce your life to a very small thing," and you become more focused on your personal troubles than the love God is offering to you.
The core issue of worry, Beshore continues, is that it confirms your lack of trust in God, and suggests that you don't understand that God's great love for you will take care of your troubles.
All Christians should be asking themselves "Do [I] trust God? How big is [my] God? Is God able?"
"When you worry ,you're taking tomorrow's problems and dragging them into today," the megachurch pastor continues. "[God] already knows all of your needs."
Beshore again stresses that Christians should not confuse "God supplying them with all of their needs" as an opportunity to be free from responsibility, citing Matthew 6:33 that reads: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Ultimately, when tempted to worry, Christians should ask themselves what is more dependable and long-lasting: a constant feeling of worry, or a trust in God's love for us?
Nobody says "I believe by worrying" because it doesn't make your life better, Beshore states.
Instead, Christians should give their worries to God and focus on today rather than tomorrow, over which they have no control.
Beshore concludes his sermon by citing Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Along with focusing on today, Christians should also remember that when tomorrow does come, "God will be there, and God will provide," the California pastor assures.
