How do you counter this

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We do not need to worry about our earthly and human needs because no matter how important they are, the real goal and need of this life is to receive Christ and prepare ourselves for heaven. This section is also talking about worrying. Don’t worry about anything for God has a purpose and everything will be done in His timing, not ours.

Pax.
 
landon13 said:
We do not need to worry about our earthly and human needs because no matter how important they are, the real goal and need of this life is to receive Christ and prepare ourselves for heaven. This section is also talking about worrying. Don’t worry about anything for God has a purpose and everything will be done in His timing, not ours.

Pax.
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Yes, I agree.
And, as for the thousands who are starving, I suggest Cross Catholic Outreach. Their ‘Most Urgent Need’ program ships full cream powdered milk to nourish starving children around the world in places like Haiti. The milk is cheap and any amount helps. It goes a long way. My twenty dollars a month isn’t much, but I think it’s about ten gallons worth. It helps to reduce my worrying, because I know it’s hard to justify being confident in my own earthly needs when others’ are so much more severe.
Peace.
 
The first verse there puts it into perspective: “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (v. 25)

Here’s my layman’s understanding of this:

“Life” is not just a material existence. Our “needs” are not limited to material needs…we are spirits that have spiritual needs. Our goal as Christians is to stay on the path that leads to Heaven. Christ is saying, if I may loosly paraphrase, that if we put our focus on God, He will give us what we need to stay on that path. That passage does not promise us material things…it has a spiritual message.
 
Looking forward to more responses. Thanks for the comments!
 
I was thinking of Romans 8:18 when your question came up.
“18 For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.”
 
Chiefsinner said:
so got an argument the other day. How do you counter it

biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6

Verse 25 onwards says don’t worry about basic necessities. Yet thousands die everyday without food and due to starvation.
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In Matthew 26, Mark 14 and John 12, we are given a story about a woman who anoints Jesus with expensive oil, and there are witnesses to this who complain that the oil could have been sold for much and the money given to the poor. Jesus answered them by commending her action, and saying that the poor would always be with us, and we could do good for them whenever we choose, but that He would not always be with them.

The common vein between these two stories is that when it comes to poverty versus God, or material concerns versus spiritual concerns, God comes first. Note, Jesus does mention that we can do good to the poor, and says we ought to do so in other verses. But, if the matter comes to, “give to the poor” or “give to God,” then you must give to God.

In Matthew 6:25-34, which you’ve referenced, Jesus tells us not to worry about our life, but He does so with specific reference to worrying about material necessities of life (food, drink, clothing). Does this mean not to be concerned about these things at all? No. We know the answer is no because in Matthew 6:33 Jesus says " But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…" Thus, we see the implication that Jesus is saying to not seek first all these other things (food, drink, clothing). It’s a passage about prioritizing God’s Kingdom, and righteousness in our lives. Those should be our first concerns, and everything else is secondary.

Jesus continues in Matthew 6:33 “…and all these things will be given to you as well.” Does this mean that all those thousands who die everyday have not “[sought] first His kingdom and His righteousness”? Perhaps, or perhaps not. Jesus may have been speaking teleologically when he said, in Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” If we seek the Kingdom of God first, and righteousness, then in the resurrection God will certainly provide us will all of these things and more; a glorified body, and new and glorified heaven and earth.

Essentially, it’s a lesson about priorities. God first, everything else second.
 
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