Do Not Worry

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

SUMMARY: We should not be anxious about clothing and food. We should not provide for ourselves expensive clothing any more than a variety of food. Do not think, he says, about food. And as an example of clothing, we have the lilies. We should not be upset with worries about our food and clothing. Instead, while living simply and wanting only what is necessary, we should trust in the providence of God. God forbids us to worry about tomorrow's food and clothing. He promises that he knows what each of his servants needs. God feeds the birds, and sparrows are given daily food. Even creatures that have no understanding of divine things do not lack drink or food. But seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, because these are the great things. Then the things that are small and belong to this life shall be added to you, since everything belongs to God. Nothing will be lacking for the person who has God, as long as God himself is not lacking to him. The nations of the world chase after luxury, pleasure, rich cooking, fancy eating, and gluttony. He commands them to put aside the worries of this life and depend on the Father alone. Anyone who has begun to be Christ's disciple, giving up all things according to the word of his Master, should ask for daily food. He should not stretch the desires of his request out over a long time. So earlier, he convinced us that our nature could not reach life. Now he has revealed the Savior, who is able to save even the things that were once impossible to save. By both of these facts, he wanted to lead us to trust his kindness. He wanted us to honor him as our nourisher, father, teacher, counselor, healer, our wisdom, light, honor, glory, power, and life. In this way, we should not be anxious about clothing and food.

JUSTIN MARTYR: Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear. Are you not better than the birds and the beasts? And God feeds them. Do not worry, therefore, about what you will eat or what you will wear. For your heavenly Father knows that you need these things, but seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added to you.

TATIAN: do not worry about yourselves, about what you will eat and what you will drink. Do not worry about your bodies, about what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Think about the birds of the sky; they do not plant or harvest or store food in barns, and yet your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are? Which of you, by trying, can add one cubit to your height? If you are not able to do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest? Think about the wild lily, how it grows. It does not work hard, and it does not spin cloth. But I tell you that Solomon, in all the greatness of his glory, was not dressed like one of them. And if God clothed the grass of the field like that, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith? So do not worry and say, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?" Do not let your minds be confused about this, all these things the nations of the world look for. And your Father who is in heaven knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as something extra. Do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about its own things. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Some men truly live so that they can eat like animals, whose life is their belly and nothing else. But the instructor commands us to eat so that we can live. Food is not our main business; pleasure is not our goal. Both are for the sake of our life here, which the word is training up to immortality. Therefore, we must use good judgment about food. It should be simple and truly plain. It should fit simple and honest children exactly. It should serve life, not luxury. The life it supports has two parts: health and strength. Plain food is best for these. It helps digestion and keeps the body light. From this come growth, health, and true strength. It is not the wrong, dangerous, and miserable strength of athletes, which is produced by forced feeding.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: We should not provide for ourselves expensive clothing any more than we should seek a wide variety of food. The Lord Himself, therefore, divides His commands into what relates to the body, the soul, and, third, external things. He advises us to provide external things because of the body. He directs the body by the soul, and He trains the soul, saying, "Take no thought for your life what you shall eat, nor yet for your body what you shall put on, for the life is more than food, and the body more than clothing." Then He adds a clear example to teach us: "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. Are you not better than the birds?" This is about food. In the same way, He commands us about clothing, which belongs to the third division, the division of external things. He says, "Consider the lilies, how they do not spin nor weave." But I say to you that not even Solomon was arrayed as one of these. Solomon the King was extremely proud of his riches. What, I ask, is more graceful, more brightly colored than flowers? What is more delightful than lilies or roses? And if God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? Hear the word "what" rules out variety in food. Scripture shows this when it says, "Take no thought what things you shall eat or what things you shall drink." To worry about these things shows greed and luxury. Eating by itself is a sign of necessity. Being overfull, as we have said, is a sign of want. Whatever goes beyond that is a sign of having more than you need. And Scripture declares that what is more than you need is of the devil. The words that follow make the meaning clear. After saying, "Do not seek what you shall eat or what you shall drink," He added, "Neither be of a doubtful or lofty mind."

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: In my judgment, a covering should show that what it covers is better than the covering itself. It is like how an image is better than the temple; the soul is better than the body, and the body is better than clothes. But now it is the exact opposite. The bodies of these ladies, if they were sold, would never bring in a thousand drachmas, yet they buy a single dress for the price of ten thousand talents. By doing this, they show that they are less useful and less valuable than cloth. Why in the world do you go after what is rare and costly instead of what is nearby and cheap? It is because you do not know what is truly beautiful and what is truly good. You eagerly chase shows instead of realities. You get them from fools who, like people out of their minds, imagine black to be white.

TERTULLIAN: It is useless to fool ourselves about what we need to live if, after our faith is sealed, we say, "I have no way to live." Here, I will now answer that sudden claim more fully. It is brought up too late. After the example of that very wise builder who first counts the cost of the work along with his own resources, so that after he begins he will not later be ashamed to find he has run out, you should have thought it through beforehand. But even now you have the Lord's sayings as examples that take away every excuse. What is it you say? "I will be in need." But the Lord calls the needy happy. "I will have no food." But he says, "Do not think about food." And for clothing, we have the lilies as an example. My work was what supported me. No. But all things are to be sold and divided to the needy. But I must provide for children and future generations. No one, putting his hand on the plow and looking back, is fit for work. But I was under contract. No one can serve two lords. If you want to be the Lord's disciple, you must take your cross and follow the Lord. Your cross. That means your own hardships and sufferings, or even your body itself, which is shaped like a cross. Parents, wives, and children will have to be left behind for God's sake. Do you hesitate about skills and trades, and about professions too, for the sake of children and parents? Even there it was shown to us that both dear pledges and handcrafts and trades must be completely left behind for the Lord's sake. James and John, called by the Lord, leave behind both their father and their ship. Matthew is stirred up from the tax booth. And even burying a father was too slow a matter for faith. None of those whom the Lord chose said, "I have no way to live." Faith does not fear famine. It also knows that, for God's sake, hunger should be treated with no more respect than any kind of death. Faith has learned not to honor life itself. How much more, then, should it not honor food? You ask, how many have met these conditions? But what is hard for people is easy for God. Still, let us comfort ourselves about the kindness and mercy of God in this way. Do not pamper our needs until they become close to idolatry. Instead, avoid even the slightest trace of it from far away, as you would avoid a plague.

TERTULLIAN: Who would not want us to worry ourselves about food for our life, or clothing for our body, except the One who has already provided these things for mankind? And therefore, while He is giving them to us, He forbids all worry about them. He says that such worry is an insult against His generosity. Who is the One who has made the nature of life itself to be more than food? And who has formed the substance of the body so as to make it more than clothing? His ravens, too, neither sow nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and are yet fed by Himself. His lilies and grass also do not toil nor spin, and yet are clothed by Him. His Solomon, moreover, was transcendent in glory, and yet was not arrayed like the humble flower. Besides, nothing could be more sudden and unreasonable than this: that one God would be handing out His gifts, while another would tell us to take no thought about such a kind giving. And this would be done with the purpose of reducing what comes from His generosity. Whether, in fact, He is putting down the Creator by saying that He does not want such small things to be thought about—things that neither the crows nor the lilies work for, because they supposedly come to us on their own, since they are so worthless—will be shown a little further on. Meanwhile, He scolds them as being of little faith. Now, when He adds, "For all these things do the nations of the world seek after," He means that they do this because they do not believe in God as the Creator and Giver of all things. Since He did not want them to be like these nations, He therefore rebuked them as lacking faith in the same God. He had pointed out that the Gentiles were completely lacking faith in Him.

ORIGEN: Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink. Look at the birds of the air, or look at the ravens. They do not sow, and they do not reap. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. How much more valuable are you than they are? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field. These commands, and the ones that follow, do not disagree with the promised blessings of the law. The law teaches that the righteous shall eat their bread to the full. They also do not disagree with Solomon saying, "The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked shall want." We must understand the food promised in the law as food for the soul. It is meant to satisfy not both parts of human nature, but the soul only. And the words of the Gospel, although they probably have a deeper meaning, can still be taken in a simpler and more obvious way. They teach us not to be upset with worries about our food and clothing. Instead, while living simply and wanting only what is necessary, we should put our trust in God's providence.

CYPRIAN: are you afraid that your inheritance might run out if you start giving from it generously? But when has it ever happened that the resources of a righteous person could fail? Scripture says, "The Lord will not slay with famine the righteous soul." Elijah in the desert is fed by ravens, and food from heaven is prepared for Daniel in the den when the king's command shut him up as prey for the lions. Yet you are afraid that you might run out of food, even though you are working and doing what is right for the Lord. The Lord Himself, in the Gospel, speaks to correct those whose minds are uncertain and whose faith is small. He says, "Look at the birds of heaven; they do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" God feeds the birds, and daily food is given to the sparrows. Creatures that have no understanding of divine things still do not lack drink or food. Do you think that anything will be lacking for a Christian? Do you think that anything will be lacking for a servant of the Lord? Do you think that anything will be lacking for someone devoted to good works? Do you think that anything will be lacking for someone who is dear to his Lord?

CYPRIAN: Daily bread will not be missing for a righteous person because it is written, "The Lord will not slay the soul of the righteous by hunger." And again, I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread. And the Lord also promises and says, "Take no thought, saying, 'What will we eat, or what will we drink, or how will we be clothed?' For after all these things do the nations seek. And your Father knows that you have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." To those who seek God's kingdom and righteousness, He promises that all things will be added. Since all things belong to God, nothing will be missing for the one who has God, as long as God Himself is not missing to him.

CYPRIAN: He calls people children of Abraham when he sees that they work hard to help and feed the poor. When Zacchaeus said, "Look, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have done any wrong to any man, I restore it four times over," Jesus answered and said, "Salvation has come to this house today, because he also is a son of Abraham." For if Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, then certainly the one who gives alms according to God's command believes in God, and the one who has the true faith keeps the fear of God. Also, the one who keeps the fear of God thinks about God when showing mercy to the poor. He works like this because he believes. He does it because he knows that what God's word foretells is true and that Holy Scripture cannot lie. It says that unfruitful trees, that is, unproductive people, are cut off and thrown into the fire. But it also says that the merciful are called into the kingdom. In another place, he calls hard-working and fruitful people faithful, but he denies faith to those who are unfruitful and barren, saying, "If you have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon, who will commit to you what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another man, who will give you what is your own? If you dread and fear that, if you begin to act this generously, your inheritance might be used up by your giving, and you might be brought down into poverty, then take courage about this. Be free from worry. What supplies the service of Christ cannot be used up. What supports the work of heaven cannot run out. I do not claim this by my own authority. I promise it based on the trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures and on the authority of God's promise. The Holy Spirit speaks through Solomon and says, "He that gives to the poor shall never lack, but he that turns away, his eye shall be in great poverty," showing that the merciful and those who do good works cannot lack. Instead, it shows that the stingy and barren will later come to lack. And the Lord, in the Gospel, already knowing the hearts of people like this, and with a prophetic voice warning faithless and unbelieving people, gives witness and says, "Do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'How shall we be clothed?' For these things the Gentiles seek, and your Father knows that you have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." He says that all these things will be added and given to those who seek the kingdom and righteousness of God. For the Lord says that when the day of judgment comes, those who have labored in His church are welcomed in to receive the kingdom.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: For, it is said, "Seek what is great, and the little things shall be added." Clement of Alexandria: Therefore, to those who have made progress in the Word, he has announced this saying: he tells them to let go of anxious worry about the things of this world; he urges them to hold to the Father alone, copying the way children trust. Therefore, in what comes next, he also says, "Take no anxious thought for tomorrow; sufficient to the day is the evil thereof." In this way, he commands them to put aside the worries of this life and depend on the Father alone.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: For he says, "Take no anxious thought for tomorrow," meaning that the man who has devoted himself to Christ should be enough for himself; he should be a servant to himself. He should also live in a way that provides for each day on its own. For we are trained not in war, but in peace. War needs great preparation, and luxury craves abundance. But peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require no weapons and no excessive preparation. The Word is what sustains them.

TERTULLIAN: The Greeks also sometimes used the word "evils" to mean troubles and injuries.

CYPRIAN: but it can also be understood this way: we who have renounced the world and have thrown away its riches and its showy pride in the faith of spiritual grace should ask only for food and support for ourselves. The Lord teaches us and says, "Whosoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple." But the one who has begun to be Christ's disciple and has renounced all things according to the word of his Master ought to ask for daily food. He should not stretch the desires of his prayer out over a long time. The Lord again commands this and says, "Do not worry for tomorrow, for tomorrow itself shall take thought for itself; sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." So Christ's disciple rightly asks for food for the day. He is forbidden to think about tomorrow. It would be a contradiction and something unfitting for us to seek to live a long time in this world since we ask that the Kingdom of God should come quickly. In the same way, the Blessed Apostle warns us. He gives weight and strength to the firmness of our hope and faith. "We brought nothing," he says, "into this world, nor indeed can we carry anything out. Having therefore food and raiment, let us be content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which, while some covet it after, they have made shipwreck from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows."