The Anatomy of Anxiety, Part 17: How to Put Off Anxiety

Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, please visit: 1: http://bit.ly/aHstk, 2: http://bit.ly/20R01P, 3: http://bit.ly/HAoxI, 4: http://bit.ly/1I6XmF, 5: http://bit.ly/19Jdqt, 6: http://bit.ly/19vCXx, 7: http://bit.ly/21wPLg, 8: http://bit.ly/m50On, 9: http://bit.ly/4vhNIt, 10: http://bit.ly/1ClPr4, 11: http://bit.ly/2Sb2Ec, 12: http://bit.ly/2xv4BV, 13: http://bit.ly/baNuS, 14: http://bit.ly/UFIy1, 15: http://bit.ly/31fQYo, 16: http://bit.ly/3mmTm4

Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. And, we need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.

Putting Off and Putting On

In our last post (http://bit.ly/3mmTm4), I discussed the “touchy” issue of exposing and dealing with sin issues involved in anxiety.

The Bible never talks about putting off sin without also instructing us how to put on holy, loving living.

Putting off heart sins of self-trust associated with anxiety, we need to put on trusting Christ as our Sentry.

Putting off relational sins of self-protection associated with anxiety, we need to put on tending and befriending—protecting others.

Motivations to Trust and Love

To be motivated to put off, we need to see the horrors of our sin—even in anxiety issues. Consider the three areas of our relationship to God (spiritual), others (social), and self (self-aware).

Self-protective anxiety is horrible spiritually because it reveals that we fear something more than we fear God. It means that we entrust ourselves to something more than we entrust ourselves to God.

Self-protective anxiety is horrible socially because it reveals that we tend and befriend ourselves rather than or more than we tend and befriend others. Even seemingly altruistic endeavors like public speaking may be fraught with selfishness if we speak as fearful people pleasers trying to impress others or fearful of what others think of us.

Self-protective anxiety is horrible in terms of our self-awareness because we believe lies about ourselves. We live the lie that we are slaves to fear and that we are babies, rather than living the truth that we are slaves to righteousness and that we are adult sons and daughters of God in Christ. We focus on self-esteem when we should be focused on Christ-esteem: Who Christ is and who we are in Christ.

“But It Can’t Be Sin!”

In the midst of anxiety, we may argue:

“But it can’t be sin! I would not have these feelings if I could get rid of them. They’re uninvited. Unwanted. Alien. Intruders. Invaders. I have no choice but to feel these fears!”

At one level, this may be somewhat true. We can’t totally control what feelings we experience. Plus, it is true that mentally and physically we can begin to habituate ourselves to these feelings.

However, at another, deeper level, it (anxiety) can be sin; can be a choice. We can control our spiritual, social, mental, volitional, and behavioral response to our feelings of anxiety.

So why would we choose to stay stuck in anxious patterns?

“Secondary Gain”

To understand that, we need to understand “secondary gain.”

What do I get out of staying fearful? What responsibilities and callings do I avoid? What pampering do I receive?

I may or may not be able to control the physical reaction or the immediate emotional response when anxiety strikes. But I can control my relational, mental, motivational, and behavioral responses. When I don’t, I need to ask myself:

“What am I getting out of staying stuck in my pattern of anxiety? What does it buy me? What does it protect me from?”

The Rest of the Story

So just how do we put off the sins of self-trust, self-protection, and self-esteem? How do we put on trusting Christ as our Sentry, tending and befriending others, and living out our new identity in Christ?

In the rest of our blog series, we’ll explore specific biblical guiding principles that answer these vital questions. We’ll use the following categories to find victory over anxiety:

1. Relational: Spiritual, Social, Self-Aware—How to Love Sacrificially

2. Rational: Beliefs and Images—How to Think Biblically

3. Volitional: Motivation and Behavior—How to Choose Courageously

4. Emotional: Reactions and Responses—How to Manage Our Moods

Stay tuned and continue to join the journey.

The Anatomy of Anxiety, Part 16: God Is Faithful Even When I Am Unfaithful

Note: For previous posts in this blog mini-series, please visit: 1: http://bit.ly/aHstk, 2: http://bit.ly/20R01P, 3: http://bit.ly/HAoxI, 4: http://bit.ly/1I6XmF, 5: http://bit.ly/19Jdqt, 6: http://bit.ly/19vCXx, 7: http://bit.ly/21wPLg, 8: http://bit.ly/m50On, 9: http://bit.ly/4vhNIt, 10: http://bit.ly/1ClPr4, 11: http://bit.ly/2Sb2Ec, 12: http://bit.ly/2xv4BV, 13: http://bit.ly/baNuS, 14: http://bit.ly/UFIy1, 15: http://bit.ly/31fQYo.

Does worry, doubt, or fear get the best of you sometimes? Do you wonder where anxiety comes from and how to defeat it in your life and the lives of those you love? Then we need a biblical anatomy of anxiety. And, we need God’s prescription for victory over anxiety.

He Is Faithful to Forgive Us Our Sins

Discussing “sin” and “anxiety,” with a person struggling with anxiety can produce…more anxiety. However, we would be naïve to try to be victorious over anxiety without addressing personal responsibility.

The core heart sin with anxiety as we’ve defined it in this blog series is failure to trust God. We decide to trust our puny resources rather than to entrust ourselves to Christ’s infinite resources.

We can trace the tracks of mistrust to our sinful suppression of the truth that God is strong and caring, holy and loving, in control and comforting.

Based upon our failure to hold God in awe, we self-protect through flight and fight behavior.

You think, “Well, that sure helps a lot, Bob! Now I’m anxious about my relationship with God!”

And I say, “Good…as long as you deal with those concerns biblically.”

We need to confess our sin of self-trust and self-protection and of mistrusting God and believing lies about God. We need to repent of our sin of turning God’s good gift of “vigilance” into the haunting sin of “stuck vigil.”

And, we need to accept His forgiveness; we need to accept our acceptance in Christ.

God is faithful even when we are unfaithful.

God still forgives, loves, cares, and controls even when I doubt His faithfulness, even when I choose to self-protect, to turn to my own idols to make my life work. Even when I refuse to fear God and I choose to fear others, I never need to fear that God will refuse to forgive me.

Freedom from Final Fear

Interestingly, we can ultimately trace all anxiety to what I call “spiritual separation anxiety.” Luther used to call it by the German term “anfectungen”—the primal fear that God will reject us.

So, what can conquer our ultimate fear more than knowing that even when we fear man instead of fearing God, we never need to fear God’s ultimate rejection?

If the God of the universe forgives me for failing to trust Him, if He is faithful to me in Christ even when I am unfaithful to Him, then do I really have anything to fear in life? Since Christ has conquered my ultimate fear, I can face all of life’s daily fears.

So, while some may balk at my insistence that we address the sin aspects of anxiety, I would insist that addressing the sin lying within anxiety is the only cure for anxiety! By dispensing Christ’s grace for our disgrace of self-trust, we finally grasp that there is nothing to fear in life because Christ has faced and conquered our greatest dread—separation from God.

In confessing the sin of anxiety and receiving Christ’s forgiveness, we learn life’s ultimate lesson—nothing can separate from the love of God in Christ. Fearless spiritually because there is no condemnation in Christ, we become fearless personally and relationally.

The Rest of the Story

Having confessed and received forgiveness for sinful anxiety, we still need to put off the old habits and put on the new fearless person we are in Christ. In our next post we learn how.