The Impact of a Kingdom AttitudeMatthew 5 describes the 8 attitudes people who are in the Kingdom of God are to possess. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. People who have this attitude are people who have realized and admitted they can’t save themselves. In order to be poor in spirit we have to admit we are spiritually helpless. People who are poor in spirit realize that without Christ they can do nothing (John 15:5), but with Christ they can do all things (Philippians 4:13). Blessed are those who mourn (over their sin), for they will be comforted. Why is it a blessing to mourn over sin? There is a “sorrow that leads to repentance.” (II Cor. 7:10) We are blessed when we mourn over sin because it leads us to repentance that frees us from and keeps us from wanting to repeat the sin. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. A meek person is someone who demonstrates power and authority under the control of the Holy Spirit. Meek people don’t have to “take things into their own hands.” They place all things in God’s hands. Meek people don’t have to have the last word. They let God have the final say. When they express anger and passion it is for the right reasons. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Jesus wanted to know if His would-be followers wanted a deep relationship with Him as much as a starving person would want something to eat or as much as someone who was dying of thirst would want something to drink. We hunger and thirst for a lot of things; too many to list. Why does Jesus often take a back seat to all of those? Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 18 tells the story of the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant which reminds us that we have all received mercy. Therefore we are commanded to show it to others. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. We don’t bring a pure heart to God, but we bring our dirty, divided, complicated hearts to God with a total desire that He will clean our hearts to make them pure. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Peace isn’t always possible, but we are to live with the mindset that it is our desire and pursuit. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. If you are persecuted because of Christ it must mean you are living in such a way as to have been recognized as one of Christ’s followers. Good job! 🙂 All kinds of insults will likely come to those who follow Christ because they came to Him. What we have to focus on, however, isn’t what happens in the moment, but what happens in the end. Jesus was magnified. Jesus was glorified. Jesus was exalted. If you are truly a Kingdom person, then adopt these Kingdom Attitudes and be satisfied with letting eternity tell the story! Pastor Melissa |
