Christ vs. Anxiety: How to live Christ-like while dealing with anxiety?
Dealing with anxiety is like dealing with a bully at school. It’s always waiting around the corner, waiting for the perfect opportunity to knock you down. Sometimes it gets to the point where you’d rather stay down than fight. Anxiety can feel like a never-ending battle that we are destined to lose.
The good news is we have God on our side. Chances are that if you clicked on this blog post, you have a relationship with God. You may be here because you’re tired of fighting a relentless battle of mind versus spirit. You may be here because you want to help yourself or a friend. Either way, know that you are not fighting this battle alone. God loves you and wants to see you succeed in the struggle we call life.
You’re probably thinking, “who are you to help me deal with anxiety?”. I have personally battled with anxiety and have had to learn for myself these steps that I want to share with you. It was so bad that I was afraid to walk out of my door. I cried every time I had to leave the house because my brain had fully convinced me that I would die if I did. I had let anxiety take the throne of my mind rather than God. Therefore, anxiety determined my every step. I finally decided, enough was enough, and I asked God for help.
That’s cool. But how do I actually DEAL with anxiety?
Well, I am glad you asked. In this blog article, I want to give you five practical steps for dealing with and winning your anxiety battle. There will also be some helpful resources at the end that you can print off and keep with you.
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Admit that there is a problem
- Congratulations! You’ve already completed the first step. You should be proud of yourself. It takes a healthy person to admit that there is a problem. Acknowledging that you have a problem is the master key to dealing with the issue head-on.
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Learn the truth
- The truth is that you are already victorious in this battle! (Deuteronomy 20:4) Anxiety’s main goal is to make you feel hopeless and to want to give up. When you know the truth, you no longer have to listen to the lies of the enemy.
- The ugly part of the truth is your battle with anxiety doesn’t suddenly disappear when you know the truth about your victory. That’s the part that I got stuck. It's easy to think; "Now that I know the truth, anxiety should disappear from my life forever, right?". This is still a part of the lie. This is always a tactic of anxiety to get you to believe that God isn’t working on your behalf. When anxiety had convinced me that the truth wasn’t enough, I immediately gave back into the lie again. I asked God why it didn’t work. God immediately reminded me of the thorn in Paul’s side. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)We are not perfect, and we never will be. That may be why it seems like it is a never-ending battle -to allow us to exalt God, even when anxiety makes us feel like we are the farthest from him.
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Recite, remember, and believe truth over the lie.
- Now that you’ve admitted that anxiety is a problem and you have learned the truth, you have to remember the two R’s and a B: recite, remember, and believe. A great way to do this is by finding scripture that is the truth about anxiety and its place in your life. Scriptures that I recite whenever I am anxious are; 1 peter 5:7, 2 Timothy 1:7, Philippians 4:6, Isaiah 41:10, and psalm 46:10
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Keep something as a reminder that God is with you.
- I post these scriptures everywhere I can think; my phone, my wall, my mirror, on a bookmark in my textbooks at school, a coin in my wallet, in my car, and where else That I can think of that I look at every day. (if you want something with these scriptures on it check out the links at the bottom of the page for some excellent products that will help you remember the truth)
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Talk about it
- The most crucial step is to talk about it with someone. Don’t be afraid to God with your struggles. God isn’t scared of your struggles. In fact, he’s excited to hear from you. God can and will bring people into your life that are willing to minister to you and pray with you about anxiety. Dealing with anxiety doesn’t make you any less Christian. It makes you human.
I hope these five practical steps for dealing with anxiety help you to fight your battle with God. These are things that I have learned as I have grown and gotten to know Christ. Compiling the wisdom and advice I've received over the years and passing it on to you helps me to grow even further. I hope you find it as useful as I have.
This week, I challenge you to put these five steps into action and pick up one of our various bookmarks and challenge coins to help you stay on track. (Linked below!) There will also be a place where you can type in your email and connect with our company. After you sign up for our weekly blog updates, you can receive any of the free resources we create for our blogs and a discount code for your next purchase. ;)
Have a great week!
Taylor
Products to help you recite, remember, and believe the truth:
Don't Be Anxious Challenge Coin
Be Anxious for Nothing Bookmark