What's Behind the Worry?

Counseling Common Struggles

Fear runs along a continuum: unresolved worry turns into fretting, then anxiousness, then panic. The Greek word Jesus uses for worry means a divided mind, and Scripture treats that divided mind as a worship problem. This course teaches SCCI's approach to fear. You will separate godly fear from sinful fear, work through the fear-of-man self-check, and trace worry from behavior down to the root heart issue using Fruit to Root. Robert Jones's study of Matthew 6:19-34 supplies the two roots underneath, idolatry and unbelief, along with a heart check that holds up in a live counseling conversation. The course closes with a case study you score on S.O.S. and a way out drawn from Philippians 4.

1 hour

10 units

3 sections

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What You'll Work Through

Each unit is a conversation, not a page to read. The tutor asks you to explain, apply, and work with the material until it holds.

Chapter 1: Naming the Fear

Section 1.1: The Continuum of Fear and the Divided Mind

Worry means "a divided mind" (merimnao = merizo + nous)
The continuum of fear: unresolved worry escalates to panic

Section 1.2: Two Kinds of Fear and When Worry Becomes Sin

Sorting fear by content: God-given fears versus sinful fears
The seven marks that worry has crossed into sin, with the Circle of Responsibility

Section 1.3: The Fear of Man and the Four Hearts

The fear-of-man self-check as a diagnostic run on yourself first
Locating fear as one of the Four Hearts and connecting it to your own PHA

Chapter 2: The Two Roots (Matthew 6:19-34)

Section 2.1: Idolatry, Unbelief, and Repentance

Worry's first root is idolatry, exposed by three competitors in Matthew 6:19-24
Because worry's roots are idolatry and unbelief, the first move is repentance, not willpower

Section 2.2: The Way Out - Seeking the Kingdom, Trust, and Love

Seeking the Kingdom as the Antidote, Then Living It Out in Trust and Love

Chapter 3: Putting It to Work

Section 3.1: Case Study - Fruit to Root, S.O.S., and the Way Forward in Community

Working the executive case study: Fruit to Root, S.O.S. of 22, and keeping the way out in community