67th Post Jesus Teachings - The Beatitudes- Matthew 5:3- 12: Luke 6: 20 - 23.

We are starting a new section called Jesus teachings; it starts with Matthew 5: 3 - 12; Luke 6: 20 -23. When you read these verses for the first time, you see a list of people types, and you think Jesus was blessing people with these traits. This is true Jesus was blessing people with these traits, but Jesus was also giving you a list of attributes He wants us to acquire as we mature in our walk with God. Matthew 5 is the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, if you follow Jesus life after He gave this sermon, you will notice that Jesus exhibited each one of those traits at different times in His earthly life. This is the model. When you re-read this list, you notice that these traits, are not the traits the world would think are important. In fact, some of those traits would receive scoffing (ridicule) from the world. Jesus asks us to be in the world, but not of the world.
If you look at this list and then look at the fruits of the Spirit, Paul talks about, you will notice something interesting. The fruits are the results from living these traits. How are we to get these fruits? We are taught that some fruits you are born with, and others we acquire from walking with God. There is something else that we should remember when we see or hear the Beatitudes, for Christians they should be our "BE ATTITUDES". We should strive to have everyone of them as part of our personality. When we do this we will start to emulate Christ and we will have earned the right to be called "Christians". After all, the word Christian means Christ Like. We need to examine ourselves, and be sure that if we were arrested for impersonating a Christian, would they find enough evidence to convict you?? If the answer is no, then you need to examine your life and see where you fell off the path. Ask God for the strength to make the necessary changes and it will be done. I am not through with the Beatitudes yet, in my next post we will look at them individually and try to explain them.