Matthew 6:27 (WEB)

Passage

“Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?

Nearby Context

Matthew 6:25 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?

Matthew 6:26 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?

Matthew 6:27 “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?

Matthew 6:28 Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin,

Matthew 6:29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "anxious", "moment", and "lifespan". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "anxious" and "moment", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "See the birds of the sky that..." into verse 28's "Why are you anxious about clothing Consider...", so "anxious" and "moment" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "anxious" and "moment" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.