“For as he thinks
in his heart, so is he…”—Proverbs 23:7
Our attitudes shape our mind-set—our
focus. How we view certain things
affects every area of our life. Jesus
taught different attitudes than the religious leaders. We are able to see the marked contrast of attitudes between the world’s thinking
and our Lord’s viewpoint in Matthew 5 -7.
The word "beatitude" comes from the Latin beatitudo,
meaning "blessedness." The phrase "blessed are" in each of
the beatitudes implies a current state of happiness or well-being—an attitude,
as well as a promised future reward. The expression held powerful meaning of
"divine joy and perfect happiness" to the people of the day. In other words, Jesus was saying
"divinely happy and fortunate are" those who possess these inward
qualities / attitudes.
Today we will highlight the Be Attitudes in Matthew 5:3.4.5, 6, and 10
(v. 3) “Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Poor in spirit / kingdom of heaven
The word “poor” is speaking of being inferior, inadequate, or lacking, such
as when we speak of poor attendance or poor health. Jesus was telling those who recognized their
spiritual inadequacies to be happy because help had come. They could receive
new spirits (2 Corinthians 5:17) by letting the kingdom of God come within them
(Luke 17:21 and Romans 14:17).
(v. 4) “Blessed are
those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Mourn / comforted
Jesus
could have been referring to those who mourn because of their problems. Isaiah 61:1-3 definitely states that the
Christ would comfort those who mourn (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). He could have also been identifying the
repentant person, as in 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 and James 4:9. Or He could have been speaking to "all
that mourn" (Isaiah 61:2), which would include both of these groups.
(v. 5) “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Meek / inherit the earth
(v. 6) “Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Hunger and thirst for righteousness / filled
Blessed is the one who
continually longs to know Christ's righteousness experientially and walk
steadfastly conformed to His
will as a starving man longs for food and a man perishing of thirst longs for water, for that one will be truly satisfied,
fully filled. Note that both hunger
and thirst are in the present tense which calls for these pursuits to be our lifestyle. Stop and think for a moment - if you eat only
one meal, does it satisfy you for the rest of the week? Of course not. Even though that meal might have satiated you
for the moment, your body naturally grows hungry again as time passes. In the same way, as genuine believers we will continually
hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. One day we will see Him and we shall be like
Him in glory (1 John 3:2)
but until that day we are all "works in progress" (Philippians 1:6). Think of the prophet Isaiah, probably the
"best man (the most righteous) in the land of Israel" in his day. What happened when he saw perfect
righteousness (Isaiah 8:1-8)?
He was undone and after cleansing of his
lips with coal (Isaiah 64:6),
he responded to the Lord's query of "Whom shall I send, and who will go
for Us?" by saying "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8) We will never
reach the breadth and length and height and depth of God's perfect
righteousness in this life and so as aliens and strangers (1 Peter 2:11)
our goal and our quest is continual pursuit of His righteousness manifest in
and through us as we live our lives in the power of His Spirit for His glory. "For from Him and through Him and to
Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36).
(v. 10) “Blessed
are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against
you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be
exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.”
Revile, persecute and all kinds of evil / great reward in
heaven
There are many forms of persecution. Having our
lives threatened because of our faith in Jesus is one way we can be persecuted,
but it is not the most damaging. History shows that the church has always
flourished under persecution with increased numbers and zeal. During intense,
life-threatening persecution, people's priorities get straightened out, and the
Lord assumes His rightful place. This always works for our good, regardless of
what our outward circumstances might be.
A far deadlier form of persecution is simply
people speaking evil of us or separating us from their company, as Jesus
mentioned in Matthew 5:11-12. It is
deadlier because it's more subtle. Many who would never directly deny the Lord
will fall into self-pity or strife because of someone's criticism. This will
render us just as ineffective as would a negative reaction to our lives being
threatened.
It helps to recognize that it is not us whom they
are persecuting, but rather Christ in us (Acts 9:4). We are actually becoming
partakers of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10) and will share His rewards (Romans
8:17-18, 2 Timothy 2:11-12, and Hebrews 11:26). With this in mind, we can
actually shout and leap for joy in persecution (Luke 6:22-23 and Acts 5:41).
These “be attitudes” give us a clear
picture of the true disciple of God.
Prayer—Father I repent for attitudes
that do not reflect You, and I ask You to refocus and reshape any attitude that
is not aligned with how You think, in Jesus Name. Amen.
