Religious Hypochondriacs

Just as some people obsess over their physical health, religious hypochondriacs obsess over their spiritual health constantly taking their “spiritual temperature,” fretting about imagined sins, and becoming so absorbed with themselves that they accomplish little in obedience. Like the man who carries a thermometer or the woman who neglects her household while brooding over her faults, they focus more on their problems than on the cure. Our Lord reminds us that worry produces nothing (Matt. 6:27), and a healthy tree simply bears fruit (Matt. 7:18). Those redeemed by Christ enjoy peace with God and show it through faithful action, not endless introspection. Religious hypochondriacs imagine themselves sensitive and superior, but in truth they lack “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11), which comes not from fretting but from obedient, productive Christian living.