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Stress and Life
June 8, 2024

Stress is a normal part of life, and it has been said that stress itself doesn’t kill us but our reaction to stress does. Our mind tends to lump what is urgent with what causes stress and gives urgency to what is important. If we have no stress in our life, we are probably living a life where there is never any urgency, nor is anything important. But, because we have things in our life that are important, we develop a sense of urgency when what is important is threatened.

When we have stress in our life it is because something important to us is threatened, and as that threat intensifies, our sense of urgency increases. At the least, stress affirms what is important to us, and yet so many seek to run away from any type of stress. When some sense stress in their life, instead of seeing what is important for them, they escape from that stress. For some it’s a pill, for others an alcoholic drink. Others smoke something recreationally, while others stuff their face. Some run to the malls to shop, and others are busy with vacations. For those who stay closer to home, the escape from stress might be a hobby, a passion, the movies, streaming something online, or a video game. Escaping from stress can come in many different forms, and yet most never link stress as a reaction to what is important and urgent in our life, and in the escape from stress, most never understand what is of value in their life.

If we want to value what is important in our life, we must understand that stress will be part of our life. Because we have knowledge of what is in the Bible, we also know that stress that God allows in our life will not overpower us and subdue us. Unlike so many in this world who are faithless and who would sell us out, God remains faithful to us and will not allow any situation to overtake us beyond what we can bear but will provide a way of escape.

1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Moses felt stress as the leader of Israel during the exodus from Egypt and the subsequent wandering in the desert for forty years. Moses felt stress because serving God and the people of God was important to him, and it was urgent for him that things be done right. Imagine the stress that Moses felt when the people didn’t see the value in his leadership. They complained, they cried, they did not seem happy. Moses expressed his frustration to God, and God saw the solution was to provide Moses with seventy elders from among the people who could help him lead and make sure the needs of the people were provided.

Numbers 11:10-16
Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

We are not leading the tribes of Israel as Moses did, but that doesn’t mean in our own life we are without stress. We can still look to the Bible to find recommendations that we can implement in our own life to reduce stress. Sometimes, people really start to first feel stress when they strike it out on their own. They move out of the family home to start their own life, and they quickly realize that life of and by itself can be overwhelming. All that stress is brought to the surface because it tends to be important to each of us to do what we fell needs to be done in our life, and when we are first starting out, we tend to start out with very little after having just left a family home where there was much more. It’s common for people to try and do too much, and the clash between overworking, trying to do too much, and racking up debt that typically comes with trying to do too much with too little leads to stress. Proverbs gives us a simple strategy we can use. With this strategy we are not abandoning anything that is important for us. Instead, we prioritize what needs to be done first, and then second, and so on.

Proverbs 24:27
Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

Proverbs gives us the wisdom to focus first on our career before thinking about starting a family. Because of the many situations of life, using this strategy may not be possible for everyone, especially if you are restarting your life or had already started a family before nailing down your career. If it is not starting a career, hosting friends at a gathering at your place can be stressful. Such was the case with the sisters Mary and Martha who invited Jesus to their home. Mary was busy listening to what Jesus was saying and Martha was busy serving, to the point she couldn’t listen to Jesus. When Martha complained to Jesus about how Mary was not helping, Jesus basically told her it was her own fault, she had brought this upon herself.

Luke 10:38-42
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Similar to Martha, we can find ourselves involved with the teachings of God and come up short, and if we come up short it is our own fault because we have given greater importance to something else other than the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. Jesus explained this in the parable of the sower. In this parable the sower sowed seed and some of the seed fell by the wayside, on the edges of the field and adjacent paths leading to the field. The seed sown by the wayside couldn’t take root and withered in the heat of the day. Other seed was sown among weeds, and those weeds overpowered the seed and choked out the growth. The seed that was sown on the good earth resulted in a strong harvest with much more harvested than what was sowed.

The disciples didn’t understand why Jesus was explaining in parables and He explained it was done to fulfil a prophecy in Isaiah where people could hear the word of God and not understand what they had just heard in their own language. He then explained to his disciples the meaning of the parable of the sower, showing that Jesus understood even his disciples didn’t fully understand what the parable was about. He showed that two types of stress were being shown. First, Jesus explained that those who do not develop a spiritual root are withered from the stress of the trials of life. He also showed that every day cares of life, another type of stress, also cause others to choke the word where these people become unfruitful.

Matthew 13:3-23
And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

There is nothing wrong with trials in our life. We’ll read more about that later today. But when we allow the trials of our life to be more important than the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, we allow this stress to overtake and subdue us. When we allow the cares of this world, politics, money, power, and our daily needs, to be more important than the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, we also allow this stress to overtake and subdue us. Instead of being subdued by these things which we incorrectly see as more important than the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, we are told to prioritize first seeking the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these other things will be added to us. When we feel stress about anything we think we need in our life today, we need to examine ourselves to make sure we are first seeking the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness.

Matthew 6:24-34
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 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 today is, and tomorrow 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.

Jesus reminds us that each day will have its share of things that can stress us, and He reminds us not to worry about the stress. He also shares with those who will hear Him, that all who are working hard and over-burdened to come to Him so that they can have rest, because His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Sometimes stress that is left unchecked leads to anxiety. Paul reminded the Philippians to not be anxious and to instead of spending time worrying, to let God know what their needs were. He added by doing this we will have the peace of God that comes through Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:6-7
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Peter reminds us that when we have concerns about the things in our life, that we can take those concerns and instead of worrying about them, we can leave those concerns with God. Interestingly, that recommendation is given right before Peter’s warning to be sober and vigilant because Satan seeks our destruction, and to resist him steadfast in the faith. There is something about letting stress overtake us that gives Satan an advantage on us, and we cannot give Satan any advantage. Stress will be a part of our life. We also know from what we read earlier in First Corinthians ten verse thirteen that God is faithful and will not allow that stress to overtake and subdue us. We must also do our part and not voluntarily allow stress to overtake and subdue us.

1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

In the writings of the Old Testament, we are given encouragement to help us as we face situations that cause us stress. We are told God is a refuge to those who are oppressed and when we face times of trouble.

Psalm 9:9-10
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

We are also told that God is near to people who have a broken heart and contrite spirit. Just when we think the concerns of this life are about to overtake us, God is with us.

Psalm 34:17-19
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

Similar to what Peter wrote, in the Book of Psalms we also find the advice to cast our burdens on God Who will sustain us as God never allows the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22-23
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

It is God who lifts us up when we are down, including times when we are stressed about what we face in life.

Psalm 94:11-19
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

We can call on God when we are stressed, and God will respond to our needs. It is much better to trust God than man when dealing with what stresses us in life.

Psalm 118:5-8
I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

When we allow worry about the things in our life to burden us, that burden becomes like an unbearable weight that drags us down, and any good news will seem to lessen the weight of that burden.

Proverbs 12:24-28
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious. In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

We are also reminded that if we faint in the day of our adversity, our strength is small. We cannot allow the stress of life to overtake us.

Proverbs 24:10
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

Removing burdens and stress from our life is part of the cry aloud, spare not, and lift up your voice like a trumpet prophecy from Isaiah. In this prophecy, God chides Israel for its religious hypocrisy, and how their religious practices became something to make them look good instead of helping to remove the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free. It is when we do this that God will satisfy us in drought and more than provide for us. If we want God to remove the stress in our life, we must be proactively taking action to remove the stress in the lives of other people.

Isaiah 58:1-11
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Jeremiah tells us that if we trust in God, we will be taken care of as much as a tree that is planted by the waters survives the heat of the summer. If we trust in God, we will survive the heat of those things that stress us.

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

James tells us that we should consider it a good thing when we experience the stress of life knowing that if we handle it the correct way that the testing of our faith will produce patience and lead us to perfection, wanting nothing.

James 1:2-4
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

It’s important that we do not wait in facing the challenges of life that bring stress to us as we are closer to salvation now that we first believed. As we cast our cares on God, we also need to live a life worthy of the calling we have been given.

Romans 13:11-14
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

We can look to the letters to the churches in Revelation and specifically to the letter of the church at Philadelphia, where they are told by Jesus that He is coming quickly, to hold fast to what they have that no person take their crown. In the rush of this time, there will be many distractions that could be more appealing than facing those things in life which bring us stress. Even with that stress, and casting our cares on God, we hold fast to what we have.

Revelation 3:7-13
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Jesus taught the disciples that we will never know exactly when He will return, so it is important to always be ready. That means we must constantly be casting our cares on God instead of letting those things in life which bring stress overtake and consume us.

Matthew 24:42-51
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that now is the accepted time and now is the day of salvation. We cannot allow the cares of this world to come between us and the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness.

2 Corinthians 6:1-10
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Even when our worries are focused on something that seems impossible to us, we need to remember that all things are possible with God.

Matthew 19:23-26
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Knowing we overcome by faith, we also overcome the worries of our life by casting them on God by faith knowing that it is impossible to please God without faith, knowing that God rewards those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:1-6
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Finally, we are reminded not to be conformed to this world. We will have stress in our life. All people have stress in their life. We cannot respond to the stress in our life as other people do. We must cast our cares on God. As we encounter things that cause us stress, we not only cast that stress on God, but we realize we have been given gifts of the spirit, and we can use those spiritual gifts while casting our cares on God to improve every aspect of our life, including those things which cause us stress. Casting our cares on God means we must be fervent in spirit and serving God and Jesus Christ. We cannot live a life opposed to God and Jesus Christ and think we can cast our cares on God. Ultimately, we use the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit we have been given to overcome evil with good. We use the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit to overcome those things which bring stress to us, and others.

Romans 12:1-21
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

The stress that we have in life first emerges because something important to us is threatened, and as that threat intensifies, our sense of urgency increases. Instead of being overcome by that which causes us stress, we use the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit to overcome evil with good, and to overcome that which brings stress to us, and others, all while casting our cares on God through faith.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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