Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6.25).
We left off last week with the reminder that a daily choice to follow the way of our Creator is not repression but transformation. While anything that draws us away from living our lives in full relationship with God prevents us from becoming the best version of ourselves, our commitment to living our lives with Christ as Lord gives us access to infinite forgiveness and constant renewal from the damage that we do to ourselves through sin.
Stunted growth
Worry is one such sin by which we damage our relationship with God and thus do damage to ourselves. To worry about something usually means becoming trapped in regret about a past situation or anxiety about a future event. We become paralysed and stop growing. This is distinct from \’care\’, which is usually energising, driving us to work harder to see the object of our care become the best it can be, often enabling us to work for God.
Worry can also reflect a lack of faith – a lack of trust that God will provide for us, just as he does for the lilies, and the sparrows. This can become sinful as we end up distancing ourselves from God. The inevitable outcome is that we do not flourish.
Who we were meant to be
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1.31)
Before humankind had done anything to distance itself from God, the Creator saw good in every aspect of his creation. In restoring us he wants to see us at our best and will do everything he can to ensure that things are that way. As long as we live in loving, thoughtful, prayerful lives with God at the centre, then the Creator’s goodness will flow through us into the world, bringing its redeeming and sustaining power to everything it touches.
With thanks to Lee Eccleston.
The full text of Lee\’s Talk can be found here
