Is Anxiety a Sin?
Is anxiety a sin?
Great question!
Let me begin my answer with a question of my own: Why does it matter?
Every week, Christians crawl into my office suffering with anxiety and collapsing under the weight of shame they feel over it. They are convinced they are “living in sin” because they are anxious and they must be a really bad Christian because of it.
They all reference that verse somewhere in the Bible that says something like “Don’t be anxious” (it’s Philippians 4:6-7, by the way) and assume this means anxiety is a sin.
And if anxiety is a sin and they are anxious, then they must be really screwing up this whole “Christian” thing.
Yikes, that’s a lot of pressure.
Speaking of pressure, let’s take a look at a time when Jesus was under a lot of pressure – the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s moments before his arrest and the night before his crucifixion and Jesus knows it. Matthew 26:36-46 and Mark 14:32-42 detail the story.
Most translations have Jesus describing his feelings as “sorrowful” and “troubled” and even “exceedingly sorrowful unto death.”
Then TWO TIMES Jesus asks God the Father to take this cup (crucifixion) from him if it is God’s will.
Is it just me or does Jesus sound awfully anxious? He’s overwhelmed with emotion, sweating drops of blood (Luke 22:44), and asking God to spare him the suffering of the cross.
In his humanness, Jesus feels “troubled” (humor me and call it “anxious”) about something really scary and painful that is coming his way. A perfectly reasonable response. Jesus’ nervous system is doing exactly what it is designed to do – protect him from danger by triggering a specific set of symptoms, emotional and physical.
I think my body would do the same!
However, Jesus does not run for cover as I would if I were facing that kind of suffering. No, he brings his anxiety to his heavenly father and submits to God’s will despite his dread (Matt 26: 39 & 42).
Interestingly enough, Scripture never says whether God took away Jesus’ anxious feelings. It doesn’t say anything about him praying that prayer and then being flooded by a sense of peace. There is a good chance Jesus continued to feel “troubled” and “overwhelmed with sorrow.” Yet he committed himself to God’s will and God’s care and moved forward anyway.
So if Jesus felt anxious, then anxiety is not necessarily a sin. And again, I have to ask…why does it matter?
Whether our anxiety is a function of a traumatized nervous system or a symptom of unbelief in our life, God wants you and I to experience freedom from it.
Paul was not shaming the church in Philippi when he wrote to them, “Be anxious for nothing” (Phil 4:6). He was exhorting them to trust God and live free of fear! He was not chastising them for any anxiety they might have been experiencing (it would be only natural for persecuted Christian to feel some anxiety), but rather encouraging them to accept God’s will and move forward anyway.
Time spent worrying about whether our anxiety is sinful, and shaming ourselves for any unbelief in our life, is time wasted. Put your energies toward encouraging yourself with the Word of God and following Jesus’ example and you just might find that God gives you what you need to get through the day.