Do you ever struggle with condemning thoughts about yourself? Since our hearts are so tempted to condemn us and the Evil One constantly accuses believers, on today's episode we will look at a number of great passages that can provide wonderful encouragement in your battle to not find your identity in your anxiety, but rather in Christ.

If someone were to ask you the question, who are you? How would you answer? Is anxiety part of your identity? For many, it is probably more a part of our identity than we would like to admit. 2 Cor. 5:17 provides us with far better identity than identifying with our sins. May you find greater freedom and joy even as you continue to struggle with anxiety in beginning to reject that as your identity and embrace what Scripture says about you.

We pick up the question again is anxiety a sin after having laid a theological foundational understanding of what sin is and how we are to understand sin more broadly. In this episode, we address the question by looking at a number of passages that specifically command us not to be anxious. Then we look at the encouragement of 1 Corinthians 10:13 that promises that every temptation we face, God will provide a way of escape. Also it is important to have realistic expectations that change can take years as we discussed in episode 2. There is a danger that once we categorize something as a sin that shame can come crashing in, so we must allow Christ to bear our shame and embrace our new identity which is where we will go next.

Before we can answer the question, is anxiety a sin, we must first look at how we determine if anything is a sin. But many people actually are looking at this backwards and are hoping that their struggle is somehow not a sin. But as we see as we look closer at this issue, there is great comfort for the Christian when we categorize something as a sin. Because as a Christian, we have something to do with our sin--leave it at the foot of the cross. Which is very helpful when we understand that we actually sin far more ways than we realize. 

 Scripture gives us clear instructions to pray for and honor our government leaders. We can do this because we know that they are under God's sovereign control and that can bring us peace rather than the anxiety that the news can so easily trigger in us. We must be careful we do not first view the world as an American or whatever your nationality is, but rather as a Christian. You are a citizen of God's kingdom and he will safely carry you to heaven to spend eternity safely under his rule and reign. As Philippians 3:20 says, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." And if the news is triggering lots of anxiety for us, we should consider taking a temporary fast from the news following Jesus' command, in Matthew 5:30, "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away."

As we consider the relationship between news and anxiety we must acknowledge the reality that there are news agencies that make a lot of money on feeding people's anxieties. Anxiety sells. But there are great Christian alternatives like the #TheBriefing hosted by Dr. Al Mohler, offering a daily analysis of news and current events from a Christian worldview. But even that can trigger our anxiety which means we look at our response not just how the news is presented. We must follow the counsel of 1 Peter 5:7 "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." Like the disciples in the boat with Jesus during a fierce storm, we must remember that Jesus is always with us and take each news story we read to him if we are to find peace. 

The expression, "You are what you eat," is certainly true for the media we take in and some of the anxiety we experience. We could all benefit from working backwards and looking for a relationship between the media we consumed and our anxiety. A very helpful Bible verse about this is Galatians 6:7–8 it says, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

We continue from last episode looking at the common situation that we all face of an overwhelming to-do list. Understanding Christ's ability and desire for you to come to him (Matthew 11:28-30) and cast all your anxieties on him (1 Peter 5:6-7) are very encouraging biblical truths in our battle with anxiety. Once we have addressed the vertical component of our anxious situation, it frees up bandwidth to actually begin tackling our to-do list. 

A goal of this podcast is to address everyday practical situations and how to address them from Scripture. A common situation that triggers anxiety is an overwhelming to-do list. In this episode, we look at how the biblical account of Mary & Martha (Luke 10:38-42) can help us develop strategies for facing an overwhelming to-do list without it triggering our anxiety as much.  

Setting realistic expectations is critical in your battle with anxiety. Too many people think in simplistic terms about anxiety--"just do this" or "just don't do that", but they never really understand what's going on in their heart or around them that is contributing to their anxiety. Often there are a number of contributing factors to our anxiety. Each factor needs to be understood and addressed, which usually takes some length of time. It is very rarely a fast process, but it is definitely worth the work! Here are the sermons mentioned in this episode on Psalm 139: Anxious Much? Part 1 & Anxious Much? Part 2.

For sermons by Rev. Nathan Francis, listen here to Sermons Podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ or watch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sermon Videos⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information about Hope Community Church PCA or to contact Rev. Nathan Francis, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠hopecanebay.com