Stop Being Selfish and Stop Worrying -- Jesus pulls no punches in Matthew 6:19-34
- mww
- 3 minutes ago
- 15 min read
Anxiety is a result of a lack of faith in God.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Matthew 6:19-34
Now that Jesus has explained the true heart of God's Old Testament law and religion, Jesus' followers might be worrying about this persecution and self-sacrifice. Well, the answer is to trust God completely, seen in "storing up treasures in heaven" and "seeking first God's kingdom". Stop needless worry and start trusting and obeying God fully.
You cannot serve both God and money. (6:24)
Read Last Week's Post
According to the data, most of y'all didn't read last week's post, which is understandable (Merry Christmas!) But understanding the basics of the Sermon on the Mount is critical, so I encourage you to read that post:
Getting Started: Things to Think About
Happy New Year!
If you read last week's post (hint, hint), you saw how I integrated "new year's resolutions" with the Sermon on the Mount. Assuming everyone has read the passage, you could start you discussion like -- based on how Jesus' has already challenged us in the Sermon on the Mount, what are things you need to work on in 2026?
If no one says anything, you might need to start badgering them.
Your Experience with Working Two Jobs
This week includes Jesus' famous line, "No one can serve two masters." Jesus has a very deep spiritual meaning behind it, but we can dip our toe in the water with this simple idea: have you worked two jobs at the same time? What do you remember about it?
When we were in seminary the first time, I was the part-time financial aid director for Midwestern Seminary (it was smaller then) and the part-time music and education pastor for a local church. (Shelly worked two and sometimes three jobs during those years. We're glad we went through it, but we'd rather not go through it again.) I did what I could to give maximum effort to both jobs (while also being a full-time seminary student), but I don't think you can give maximum effort in two jobs. You're always going to be at least slightly more interested in one over the other.
And then there's the employer side of things -- I'm sure that both of those employers wanted me to give superior effort in the job they were paying me to do. And indeed, after a few years both jobs were ready to take me full-time. And of course, I had to choose one or the other.
That was true of me, at least. How about you?
Jesus' point is much greater, and it should make simple sense. If we wouldn't expect to have equal interest in two concurrent full-time jobs, and we wouldn't expect our full-time employers to be cool with us splitting time and energy with a competing employer, then why would we think God should be okay with us having a second god? (In Jesus' example, money.)
Your Worst Gift Experience
Hopefully, no one will have a story from this Christmas that they want to share!
Have you ever given or received a gift that didn't come with all the parts or with instructions? A long time back, when personal computers were rather fresh, I gave my dad the first Tiger Woods Golf computer game. He loved golf, and he used a computer at work. Well, that's very different than being able to play a computer game. I was living in another state, so I didn't offer any "user support", and he got pretty frustrated with the controls and eventually stopped trying.
Nobody likes to receive a gift they can't use or don't understand, right? So if you were to give a gift with that risk, you would probably follow up and check on it, right? That leads into this next idea:
-or- Your Gift-Giving Philosophy with Children
When it comes to gifts for younger family members (like your own children or grandchildren) or friends, what's your philosophy?
Many (but not all) parents I know like to give gifts that (1) their kid will actually use and appreciate, and (2) their kid will benefit from.
Well, Jesus is going to give us a truth that plays very well at Christmas. If you as a parent are careful and thoughtful about the gifts you give to your children, wouldn't you expect God to be even more careful and thoughtful? And if the answer to that question is yes, then why do we worry about whether or not God will take care of us?
Milestone Birthdays
Yes, I know I'm giving way more ideas than you can use! Maybe you'll like one of them. Maybe you'll want to use one as an illustration during your group study.
I turned 50 this year, so the idea of "milestone birthdays" has been on my mind. There's a great quote from Victor Hugo:
40 is the old age of youth; 50 is the youth of old age.
I'm not sure what to think about that.
Anyway, we put a little more emphasis on certain birthdays -- 13, 21, 50, etc. What are the milestone birthdays your family emphasizes? And how?
And then looking at it from a different direction, what is a milestone birthday you hope to reach? And why?
In this week's passage, Jesus gives us the memorable truth that no one can add another day to life by worrying about things.
Your Favorite Aphorisms
And one final idea -- you've noticed that the Sermon on the Mount is filled with great aphorisms (short, memorable statements of "truisms"). What are your favorite aphorisms that stick with you?
Here are some famous ones that aren't found directly in the Bible:
Actions speak louder than words.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Honesty is the best policy.
Look before you leap.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
I still remember some of these sayings from when I was a child -- a good, pithy truth really does stick with you.
In my experience, the very best aphorisms can be traced to biblical truth. And the very worst (the hardest to unlearn) are those not based on biblical truth:
The Lord helps those who help themselves.
Early to bed and early to rise . . .
Curiosity killed the cat.
And many more.
So the follow up question would be something like, Have you done the work to make sure that your favorite aphorisms are actually based on biblical truth?
Where We Are in the Sermon on the Mount
Here's the outline I shared last week:
The Setting (5:1-2)
The Kingdom of Heaven (5:3-16)
The blessings of the kingdom (Beatitudes) (5:3-12)
Expanding the kingdom (Salt and Light) (5:13-16)
The Kingdom and the Old Testament (5:17-48)
Jesus fulfills the Law (5:17-20)
Anger and reconciliation (5:21-26)
Adultery and purity (5:27-30)
Divorce and remarriage (5:31-32)
Oaths and truthfulness (5:33-37)
Injury and self-sacrifice (Eye for Eye) (5:38-42)
Hate and love (Love Your Enemies) (5:43-47)
Summary: be perfect (5:48)
Overcoming Religious Hypocrisy (6:1-18)
The principle (6:1)
Example: alms (6:2-4)
Example: prayer (6:5-15)
Inappropriate prayers (6:5-8)
The Model Prayer (6:9-13)
Forgiveness and prayer (6:14-15)
Example: fasting (6:16-18)
The Kingdom's Perspective (6:19-34)
Unswerving loyalty (Treasures in Heaven) (6:19-24)
Uncompromised trust (Do Not Worry) (6:25-34)
The Kingdom's Perfection (7:1-12)
Don't be judgmental (7:1-5)
Don't be undiscerning (7:6)
Go to the Source (7:7-11)
Summary: The Golden Rule (7:12)
Conclusion: call to commitment (7:13-27) [3]
I bolded this week's lesson passage. There's a lot we skip!
The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' "Kingdom Manifesto" -- sharing with His new followers "what they were getting into".
Last week, we covered sections 2 and 3 -- probably the most difficult part of the Sermon for these Jews to accept. Long and short: because the entire Old Testament pointed to Jesus, Jesus had the authority to "correct" everything the Jews had misunderstood about the law.
In saying that, Jesus claimed to be greater than any rabbi the Jews had ever known -- greater even than Moses! But because He had started His ministry with lots of wonderful and compassionate miracles, this group of down-and-outs was willing to hear Him out.
We completely skip part 4 -- a section that the people would have liked very much but that the leadership spies would have been appalled by. Not only have the Jewish leaders been interpreting and teaching the Old Testament law incorrectly, they have also been practicing the Old Testament religion incorrectly. Jesus wanted His followers both to live according to the true heart of God's law and also to relate to God according to the true heart of God's religion.
And that meant rejecting the hypocrisy of the Jewish authorities.
Jesus gave three examples: giving to the poor, praying, and fasting. All three are things God wants His followers to do, but God cares as much about the heart behind the action as the action itself.
And that takes us to this week's passage. The way Jesus taught His followers to live was a lot less self-promoting than the way the Jewish leaders lived. Jewish leaders were wealthy and powerful. The people Jesus had gathered to Himself were . . . not. And according to these teachings, they were probably going to stay that way.
And in fact, according to Jesus' own words, some/many of His followers would lose what they had in His name (through persecution or through sacrificial love). That obviously leads to some concerns that Jesus would address next.
Part 1: Treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-24)
Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
My favorite aphorism that seems to be based on Jesus' words:
You can't take it with you.
The one I heard the most in seminary:
You don't go into ministry to get rich.
But there are plenty more. Maybe you have some:
Too many people spend money they don't have to buy things they don't want to impress people that they don't like.
Money is like manure: it's not good unless it's spread.
There is a difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.
As far as I'm concerned, verse 20 takes care of any problem a potential follower of Jesus would have about their future. We're not in this for the money.
The verb tense Jesus uses could be translated
Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on earth.
It's human nature and practice to do this -- especially if you think this life is all you have. Jesus wants His followers to make a clean break from that practice. He wants them to have a new priority.
Jesus is using memorable language, but it's important for your group to have a good grasp on -- "What is a treasure in heaven?"
It's very important to realize that Jesus is not saying that having earthly wealth is wrong or bad. What matters is why you are storing up the wealth and what you plan on doing with it. Jesus expects His followers to pay their debts. And somebody has to pay for the roof under which the disciples will sleep. Paul eventually has to take a hard line with the future disciples who took Jesus' words too far --
Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Rom 13:8)
In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” (2 Thess 3:10)
If it's selfish for a person to accumulate wealth and not share it, it's also selfish for a person not to work at all and expect others to give them everything.
Verse 21 cuts to the heart of the matter (as Jesus is wont to do). A person is going to orient his life around what he values the most. That's how human nature works; that's how He designed us. We have a "God-shaped hole", and we can fill it with God, or we can fill it with a false god. And every false god is ultimately us (think about it). "Treasure" (like money, see below) is ultimately our own wealth, power, or prestige -- things that serve ourselves. And a follower of Jesus must regularly and honestly ask where our heart is.
And if that's not obvious enough, Jesus gives a practical and inarguable truth: physical possessions can be stolen. The word for "break in" means "dig through" -- thieves would dig through the wall of a home to steal what was inside.
I have always appreciated the story of a man who lost everything in a market crash. Before the crash, he had donated a large sum to a school to build a building. Later, a reporter asked him if he wished he had that donation back. "No, because I probably would have lost it, too. At least that building will be there helping kids." (And guess what? That building might be lost in a fire or earthquake. But that's just me being cynical.)
Lamp of the body
This is a strange illustration to us, so perhaps think of it in terms of glasses. Or maybe a hearing aid. Usually our eyesight or our hearing goes little-by-little. When we eventually acknowledge that we need something corrective, we're often astounded by how poor our sight or hearing had become. And then we say things like, "Wow, I was driving." Or "Wow, I was trying to have conversations with people." "I wonder how many things I almost hit" or "how many words I misheard." And then we spiral.
If your eyes have gone bad, and your mind functions based on what you can see, then your body is in big trouble! You'll make dangerous decisions. At the least, you will be ineffective.
What does this have to do with treasures in heaven? It's simpler than you might think: if your priorities are shaped by selfishness, then you will have a very hard time living as a selfless follower of Jesus.
In other words, selfish people are going to have a very hard time understanding what Jesus is saying, let alone doing it.
Two masters
This should make sense. People choose between treasures on earth and treasures in heaven. People choose between "eyes" shaped by selfishness or selflessness. Ultimately, that means we choose between two masters: God and money.
"Money" is the old "mammon" -- wealth or property.
This is why my earlier illustration of "two employers" breaks down -- God demands total devotion (as He should). God does not accept divided loyalty. I.e., we are not an employee of God but a slave. But we should not be shocked by this because in truth we are also a slave of money. Money is personified as a god of this world -- a driving force behind sin (the love of money is a root of evil -- 1 Tim 6:10), and that god also does not allow divided loyalty (we are slaves of the one we obey -- Rom 6).
It is for our good that God demands our undivided loyalty. Jesus is simply putting it on the table for everybody -- if you're interested in your own wealth and comfort, you are not going to handle being Jesus' follower very well.
And again, we should see "money" as basically ourselves. If we are selfish, then our money will be self-serving. That is not acceptable to Jesus.
Part 2: Stop Worrying (Matthew 6:25-30)
25 Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?
Some aphorisms that seem to be based on Jesus' words:
Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.
Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.
This next section should make good sense. The "therefore" sums up what Jesus is teaching about what He just said. Our human nature is to react to what Jesus just said with, "But if we're not looking out for ourselves, who is going to look out for us?" God is!
The word for "worry" means "be anxious". Jesus is not telling us to give no thought to our future or to our obligations! Remember how upset He got with those Jews who were not caring for their elderly parents as they should! He is telling us not to be anxious about the future.
[Note: remember to take all of Jesus' words together. Jesus also tells us not to be careless, apathetic, lazy, or indifferent. We are to care about what we will eat or wear; we are not to let those things drive us to paralysis or fret.]
Why? Anxiety does two things:
It makes us doubt.
It makes us hesitate.
A person who is anxious is doubting God's providential care. And such doubt will make that person hesitate to act. And those things are crippling to a disciple's effectiveness. I have had multiple acquaintances come off the mission fiend or step down from a pulpit because they discovered they were too worried about "what might happen tomorrow".
But here's the inarguable truth: if God has given us our bodies and our world, will He not also give us the things we need to care for our bodies in our world?
Jesus gives some simple illustrations: birds and flowers. They survive and even thrive without "modern human innovations" -- so why would we not trust God to take care of humans (whom God loves in a uniquely special way) even more so?
Realize that Jesus is saying that God is completely sovereign over the finest details of the universe. And yet He allows His sovereignty to mesh with our own choices.
Jesus literally says "add a cubit (about 18") to your life", which to me makes me think of a timeline. Apparently that word is also rarely used as a measure of time. A fun irony is that studies show worry to shorten life.
"You of little faith" cuts to the heart of Jesus' teaching. Anxiety is based on unbelief -- it reveals a lack of faith in God.
Application
I want us to tread lightly here. Anxiety disorders can be real; a person with such a disorder can't necessarily "faith their way out". But for the vast majority of us, anxiety is rooted in a lack of faith.
But this demands that we understand the rest of the Sermon on the Mount -- particularly the model prayer:
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
In my personal experience, my anxieties have been based on things that are not of God. I've worried about not getting something that God never promised me. We are to ask God and trust God for "our daily bread".
Jesus is talking about our needs, not our wants.
There are other categories of things that people worry about -- the health of a loved one; the loss of a job; the choices of another person; etc. Jesus is not ignoring those things; He's focusing on the broader category of faith in God. In practical experience, we will learn that when we "seek first God's kingdom", we will be able to understand and cope with life's tragedies as they happen. But for this sermon, Jesus is focused on helping His new followers understand the perspective they should have on this life.
What are those things that you're worried about that go beyond "daily bread"?
Part 3: Seek First (Matthew 6:31-34)
31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Everything about this sermon is memorable and lifechanging. Here are some aphorisms that seem to be based on these words:
I've lived through a thousand tragedies, none of which actually happened.
Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace.
Hear me -- I'm not condoning Bob Newhart's philosophy of psychiatry, and Jesus is infinitely more compassionate than Newhart -- but I think we would all love it to be this simple:
The tense of "don't worry" is also "stop worrying". Human nature (like the pagans) is to worry about these things. And we just have to stop doing that. No excuses. Just stop it.
Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on earth.
Stop worrying about what you will eat or drink.
He wouldn't tell us to do it if we couldn't do it.
Throughout the Gospels, people give Jesus excuses why they can't obey something He said. And it's always clear to us how hollow those excuses are. And the people who have what I would consider a "legitimate" excuse (like poor health, societal dislocation) are often the people who immediately say yes to Jesus!
Why and how? Because they "hungered and thirsted after righteousness" -- they sought first God's kingdom, and God took care of their other needs.
Here, we realize that to Jesus, "righteousness" as "right action" is closely tied to "righteousness" as "right relationship with God". True righteousness can only be found in full submission to God. And that submission can only be given when you fully trust God.
See how all of this fits together?
Carson shares an amazing quote by John Stott:
In the end, just as there are only two kinds of piety, the self-centered and the God-centered, so there are only two kinds of ambition: one can be ambitious either for oneself or for God. There is no third alternative.
We realize that Jesus is making a promise on God's behalf. That's a big deal, don't you think?
And then He ends with a statement of such common sense that every human understands it.
So, what are those things that you're worried about? What do you need to lay before God? What can your Bible study group do to help you and support you?
If Jesus' followers can't trust God implicitly and put God solely first, Christianity will be very difficult for them.
Happy New Year!