How Does the Bible Define Anxiety?

Let’s define anxiety as it is used in Scripture. I consider anxiety and worry to be interchangeable. My definition is not intended to reflect a therapeutic or psychological approach but rather is based on a study of the negative use of the terms in Scripture. I recognize that some people have clinical anxiety as a medical condition. Anxiety is one of many evidences that we live in a fallen world. There are complex factors that may contribute to it, but I am concerned with anxiety as worry rooted in unbelief.

A Biblical Understanding of Anxiety

In the New Testament, worry is the sinful response of the human heart and mind to real difficulties and problems in life. The problems and circumstances that elicit anxiety and worry are not imaginary. Worry is concern turned inward and deformed, divorced from the grace of God and rooted in unhealthy fear. In addition, it is a practical expression of unbelief, causing a distraction from what is essential in life and resulting in misplaced priorities. This is what it means to be anxious in the biblical sense of the term.

Worry is concern turned inward and deformed, divorced from the grace of God.

Of course, Christians still struggle with anxiety, but habitual worry is a trait of someone who is not in an intimate relationship with God (Matt. 6:31–32). Jesus asserted that anxiety has the potential to silence the power of God’s Word in a person’s life (Matt. 13:22).

When understood in this scriptural way, the believer’s failure to conquer anxiety is more serious than it appears. That’s not to say that a Christian struggling with anxiety is not a genuine believer, but that we need to take seriously the scriptural challenge to “be anxious for nothing.”

How We Get Anxious

In his book Christian Counseling, Gary Collins explains how worry is generated:

Worry comes when we turn from God, shift the burdens of life on to ourselves and assume, at least by our attitude and actions, that we alone are responsible for handling problems. Instead of acknowledging God’s sovereignty and power, or seeking His kingdom and righteousness first, many of us . . . slip into sinful self-reliance and preoccupation with our own life pressures.[1] (emphasis added)

Collins’s elaboration on the process of anxiety is helpful because it clarifies for us what is involved in the command to not worry. In giving us the imperative, “Be anxious for nothing,” God is commanding us to look to Him instead of turning from Him. He is commanding us to shift our burdens onto Him instead of placing them on our own shoulders. He is commanding us to assume by our attitudes and actions that we are not solely responsible for handling life’s problems.

How We Fight Anxiety

Instead of slipping into sinful self-reliance and preoccupation with the pressures of life, we are to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and power, and seek His kingdom and righteousness first. It is also important to consider the cultural context of Philippians 4:6–7, which runs counter to our Western individualistic mindset.

In the United States, individualism may be a cultural cataract that prevents us from seeing the corporate implications of church life. Most of the imperatives in the New Testament are given to the community and not to the individual. The verb used in this sentence (“Be anxious for nothing”) is second person plural, so the commandment is actually given to the Philippian church as a whole. Paul is saying, “All of y’all stop worrying.”

This is God’s call to every local community of Christ followers on the planet! What if the local church as a whole embraced this call to conquer anxiety, joining together and looking to the Lord instead of being driven by worry?

[1] Gary R. Collins, Christian Counseling (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1988), 79.