⭐WEB · Matthew 6:27
What does Matthew 6:27 mean?
"“Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?"
— Matthew 6:27 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
“Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin,
yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
Explanation
Matthew 6:27 asks a simple, pointed question: can worry actually accomplish anything? Jesus poses it rhetorically, and the expected answer is obvious to everyone—no, of course not. No amount of fretting adds even a single hour to a person's life. The verse exposes the futility of anxiety by pointing out that it produces no real, tangible benefit, no matter how much energy we pour into it.
This verse comes from the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most extensive collections of Jesus' teaching, recorded in Matthew 5-7. In this section specifically (Matthew 6:25-34), Jesus is addressing his disciples about anxiety over basic necessities—food, drink, and clothing. He speaks to people who, like most in the ancient world, faced real economic uncertainty and daily concerns about provision. Jesus isn't dismissing the reality of need; rather, he's redirecting his listeners' focus. He points to birds who don't store up grain in barns yet are fed, and flowers that don't labor yet are clothed in beauty greater than Solomon's robes. Verse 27 sits in the middle of this argument as a logical proof: worry is not just spiritually unhealthy, it's practically useless.
Theologically, this verse teaches that anxiety and faith stand in tension with each other. Jesus isn't merely offering practical life advice; he's making a statement about trust in God's providence. The underlying assumption is that God, who cares for the birds and clothes the grass, cares even more for human beings, who are made
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