Dec. 27: Germs Like Worriers

“Worry is the interest we pay on trouble before it is due.”

This is an old and true saying.  If all the time and energy spent on fruitless worry could be channeled into positive and productive work, the world would be far better off than it is today.

People who are over-fearful, troubled or apprehensive bring much unnecessary misery into their own lives and the lives of those around them.

Worry not only takes away peace of mind, heart and soul, it harms the body as well.  One doctor claimed that “germs like worriers.”  In other words, bacteria are more likely to infect people who tend to worry and fret.

Show a Christlike interest in those who brood and worry.  Encourage them to shift from self-centered pursuits to the giving of themselves for others.  Once they begin to experience the joy of helping others, their own problems will seem less important and may even disappear.  Thus, gradually they will regain that sense of balance that Christ wishes all of us to possess.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  (John 14:27)

Let me be so concerned about the common good, O Lord, that I will not over-emphasize my own needs.