Billy Graham on 'Is it a sin to worry about the future?'

Renowned preacher Billy Graham lays to rest a particular concern among perpetual worriers and offers a solution on what they can do to finally stop worrying.

The Evangelical leader and founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association answered Thursday a question raised by a self-proclaimed worrier on whether worrying about the future and the things that might happen in the future should be considered as a sin.

Graham avoided a categorical answer as he reminded the worrier that giving a thought for the future can also be taken as a sign of wisdom. He said that it's also necessary to think of and prepare for one's future. Yet, taking this to the extremes when one's constantly beleaguered by worries and of the bad things that could go wrong should be avoided.

Aside from the fact that the latter leads to stress, emotional paralysis, and physically illnesses, Graham stressed that this would only be a futile effort.

He quoted Jesus as saying in Matthew 6:27, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

"But the real reason we shouldn't let worry overcome us is because it keeps us from trusting God," Graham added.

He offered that the cure to one's incessant and futile worrying would simply be placing one's trust in Jesus.

"God loves us, and the proof is Jesus Christ, who gave His life for our salvation. If we can trust God for our eternal salvation, can't we also trust Him for our daily needs?"

Graham lifted another passage from the Bible to remind Christians of what Jesus taught.

Matthew 6:34 read, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen also revealed that trusting God more would be what he'd do differently if given another chance in life. He shared that he used to worry about a lot of things until he realized that worrying didn't help him "move one inch forward."

"When I look back over my life, most of the things I worried about never came to pass. I wasted a lot of time and energy being uptight," wrote the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.