You Are Worth More!

What is happening in these verses?
- Author: Matthew; also called Levi.
- Timeline: Early church period after Christ’s resurrection; between AD 50 and 70.
- Audience: at the time this gospel was written; Greek-speaking Jewish Christians.
- The birds don’t worry about what the future holds.
  - Anxious worry shows a lack of trust in God’s knowledge and His care for us.
- Nature tells us that God even cares for birds and flowers. Those with a special relationship with God shouldn’t worry, as a result, about our supplying of needs, now or in the future, but seek to please God first by seeking, as precedence, His kingdom, and His righteousness.
  - This is not to encourage laziness but to underline the need for faith and trust.
- Jesus taught that worry is unproductive. Worry keeps us from fulfilling the kingdom purposes that He has called us to. God uses all situations to accomplish His purposes, and He wants us to trust Him in that.

What is God’s word saying?
- God wants us to know that we are of utmost value to Him, so we can trust Him for the basic needs of life and shouldn’t be excessively bothered with it. We should grow our sensibility of values so that the focus of our lives is on our spiritual needs and growth, not material things. As God proclaimed us of utmost value by sending His Son to redeem us, we need to devote ourselves to seeking what is of the utmost value – God the Father/Jesus/Holy Spirit.
- When panic rears its ugly head, the way to overcome worry is by seeking Jesus.
- Worry is illogical for the child of God. If God is the Creator of everything in the world, including us, then He will also provide for our needs. Faith calls for trust in a loving and personal God at work in the world. Worry shows a lack of trust. Jesus’ teaching in no way ignores the reality of sickness and struggle in life. However, Jesus’ clear teaching is to trust God above all else. If God faithfully provides for the needs of simple critters like birds, how much more will He provide for us as His children?
- A lot of times we think our fears and worry are perfectly valid, but Jesus said differently. Jesus couldn’t be any more clear in this scripture. He doesn’t want us to fear or worry about the future.
  - Anxiety is living out the future before it gets here. Jesus said anxiety is paralyzing and draining and called us to focus on what we can confidently know about the will of God. He understood that the issue of panic and anxiety goes to the core of our relationship with God.
  - Chronic worry signals a nonfunctional faith. Worry and worship cannot exist at the same in our hearts. God demands to be the priority in our lives.
- God is in control and doesn’t need our frenzied worrying to maintain the world. We don’t have to be in charge because we serve a God who is in control of everything. We can be confident that He will carry His kingdom purpose on to its conclusion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
  - We demonstrate that assurance when we choose to make the most of the chances we are given, focusing on Him instead of the worries of the world.
- Living in wisdom means taking every chance to glorify God and show the gospel to those around us. When we determine to live in the light of Jesus, we select to seek Jesus above everything else.
  - Part of why we do this is so our lives will testify to others about God’s grace, mercy, and love.