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Reasons to Avoid Anxiety

There are many reasons we should avoid anxiety. 

First, anxiety goes against Scripture. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus says three times in this one passage, “Do not be anxious, do not be anxious, do not be anxious.” For those of us who are believers, we affirm that we believe in God and His Son, Jesus; that He loves us unconditionally and has made promises to meet our needs; and that He’s a God who keeps His Word. So if all of this is true, then living a life filled with anxiety doesn’t fit who we are as a child of God. And we must deal with anxiety because it will breed all sorts of discouragement and defeat in our lives.

Second, anxiety will have a negative effect on every area of our lives. There are countless ways anxiety has a negative effect on our lives. Understanding these will help you to better understand the stresses of your life and will allow you to help others overcome theirs. 

• Anxiety divides your mind. Anxiety is a distraction. Its aim is to pull you in many different directions so that you can’t concentrate or focus. And whatever divides your mind diverts your attention from important matters and clouds your focus.
• Anxiety slows your productivity. Whatever you’re doing, if you’re anxious about it, it will slow you down. If your mind is divided and preoccupied by anxiety, you can’t give your full attention and energy to what you should be focusing on.
• Anxiety affects your personal relationship with other people. We all know people who are anxiety-ridden. Every time you see these individuals, they unload the things in their lives that they’re anxious or concerned about, never really dealing with them. Their ongoing anxiety affects their relationship with everyone around them—including you. 
• Anxiety leads to unwise decisions. When a person is anxious, they have a tendency to jump ahead: “If I don’t do it now, I may miss it;” “If I don’t marry him now, I’m going to miss out.” People make unwise decisions because they’re anxious about an uncertain future and missing out on opportunities that may not come again. And there are always consequences when living in this way.
• Anxiety steals your peace and joy. You can’t have joy and be full of anxiety. You can’t have peace and be full of anxiety. To have peace means to be “bound together,” whereas anxiety means to be “pulled apart.” So you can either have one or the other—but you can’t experience both.
• Anxiety is a terrible waste of time and energy. When you’re frustrated, anxious, and uncertain about things, you can’t do your best. You won’t feel your best. And this will lead to consequences you really and truly don’t want in your life.

God doesn’t want us living our lives filled with anxiety. When I think about all of the things that I just mentioned, I can’t imagine living my life in that manner. Anxiety divides your mind, diverts your attention, slows your productivity, affects your personal relationships, leads to unwise decisions, steals your joy and peace, and proves to be a waste of time and energy. Friend, anything that does that to me, I don’t want it in my life. 

And I promise, you don’t want it in yours.