Jesus taught us how to BE. (Matthew 5; Luke 6)

Matthew

5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To be poor in spirit is to be "poor in pride, humble in spirit." Why is important to be humble and without pride? This is the key to being teachable. As I've written before, God can do anything with a teachable soul. Pride is the most damning weakness.

I believe that a humble sinner has a better chance the a righteous, proud person. One will repent and the other will not. One is teachable and the other is not. One will trust the Lord and the other may not.

Believe it or not, there are those who will think that they are smarter than God. History has shown that this is the case. Lucifer and all of his followers thought they knew better than God. It happened before and it will happen again. There will be some of us who are smart and proud and rebel. We will stop being teachable. Those folks are not going to inherit the kingdom of heaven.

5:4

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." I've always wondered about this one. Why is mourning a part of this plan? Well, it's one of the main purposes we left the presence of Heavenly Father. We came to this earth to suffer in ways that we couldn't in the premortal realm. We could suffer injustice, pain, disease, violence, poverty, hunger, loss, and losing loved ones prematurely.

For us to understand joy, we must understand pain. We can't know what it's like to be comforted unless we have reason to mourn. Our mourning gives us empathy for others as they mourn. That empathy will be very useful to us through the eternities.

When all pain is gone, death is no more, there is no suffering - we will appreciate it. We wouldn't appreciate Jesus's suffering if we hadn't suffered ourselves.

Going through times of struggle is how we grow. It is how we prove ourselves. If our life has no struggle, we aren't growing and becoming stronger. Suffering does have its benefits.

5:5

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Meekness is similar but a little different than simple humility. Meekness involves a relation to another. If I am meek, I don't fight back when offended. I am not loud and commanding with others. I don't have to be in charge. I am open to others' opinions.

Humility is more about how we view ourselves - meekness is about how we interact with our surroundings.

Meek people are not usually successful politicians or business leaders. If you consider the great leaders of the world, meek isn't the first word that comes to mind. I think Jesus is reminding us that, while bold people may be successful in this world, only the meek will inherit the earth in the end. When the earth is renewed and purified by fire, it will be the meek who inherit it.

So, while the domineering may enjoy success in this telestial world, the earth in its celestial glory will be inherited by the meek.

5:6

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." We all have heard this many times. We've heard talks given at sacrament meetings where we should all hunger and thirst after righteousness the same way we do for food and water. I get that. I'm not there yet. Working on it - I believe that I'll get there in this lifetime.

What's interesting to me is the "they will be filled" part. I'll start by saying that there are many things that don't go as planned in this life. There are a lot of:

• Plans that fail.

• Pleasures that don't satisfy.

• Promises that aren't kept.

• Careers that end suddenly.

• Relationships fall apart.

I can work very hard at something and it still not happen. The tie between cause and effect is tenuous. If we literally hunger and thirst, we may eat or drink something that doesn't fulfill our need.

But, there is one area where the cause and effect is always in place. That is our search for righteousness. No one can stop us from being righteous. There is no force on earth that can stop the consequences of righteousness. The consequences are always there. I'm talking about joy, fulfillment, happiness, character, refinement, selflessness and on and on.

If what we want is righteousness, we will receive all of the consequences that come from living a righteous life.

5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." I'm not sure I know what this means but I'll try. What does it mean to be pure in heart? Here are a few thoughts:

• Our motives are pure. We don't have ulterior motives.

• We see the good in things and people. We aren't critical.

• We don't judge people. We give others the benefit of the doubt.

• We don't have impure thoughts. When one comes to mind, we shoo it away.

Obviously, the ultimate consequence of the pure in heart is that they will one day see God. However, I believe that the pure in heart see God in the world around them. They see people as God sees them. They see beauty and are grateful to God. They see God's influence in their lives daily. They love others as God loves them. Their perspective is connected to God.

God becomes ever-present in their lives. In a way, they SEE God everywhere, everyday.

5:10-12

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Being persecuted for righteousness' sake is a qualifying factor to receiving the kingdom of heaven. Why?

It is one thing for me to be a believer. I have to have a degree of faith. But, if society looks down at me and doesn't respect me for my beliefs - and I maintain my faith - my faith is greater. Take it one step further. If I am literally persecuted for my faith, how strong does my faith have to be to endure that?

Think about it. Imagine your family and friends and coworkers and neighbors actively persecute you, vocally and physically, how strong does your faith need to be? They are making up lies about you and putting signs up in your yard and slashing your tires because of your membership in the Church. If we take the time to picture that literally happening, it sounds pretty bad.

Our faith must be very strong to withstand persecution. For most of us, we haven't had to ensure anything like that. But it's coming.

5:13

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." Because of what salt is, it affects it's surroundings. It can improve and intensify the taste of food. It can preserve meat. What's interesting is that it's not necessarily what salt DOES that is important. It matters what salt IS.

Just existing among some other substance allows salt to have an effect. Once salt comes in contact with something, that thing begins to change. If salt were inert and didn't really have an effect, it's worthless. Again, what is important is what salt is.

It's the same way with us. If we are true disciples of Christ, we will have an effect on things and people around us. If we are inert or simply the same as the world, we can't have any effect. We have to be different to have impact.

5:14-16

However, if I have perfectly pure salt but keep it in a bucket, it's not doing any good. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We must purify our "saltiness" but we must also be in the world to have an effect.

We cannot be disciples of Christ alone in our room. That doesn't happen. Part of being disciples is our love for God and for his children. That pulls us towards them to serve, bless, and influence.

We must let others see our light. We don't have to extend invitations to visit with the missionaries to all of our friends. But, we must set good examples. We must put ourselves in places where others can see our good works - not in a prideful way but in a gathering Israel kind of way.

5:21-22

Jesus was teaching a higher law. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Why is it so bad to be angry with another or express contempt towards someone? Why is it bad to call someone a fool? I know it's not nice but why will it put us in danger of hell fire.

Consider the two great commandments: Love God and love our fellow man. If we are in a state of anger, contempt and mockery towards others, how does this help us develop to having Christlike charity? We definitely aren't seeing and loving others as God does when we do that. If we hate each other, how are we going to build the kingdom of God and gather Israel? It's important.

We don't have to look far to see examples of where anger and contempt and offense have changed the course of someone's life. Consider how anger towards a church leader has pulled someone out of the church. Think about fueding neighbors allow contempt for each other to take over their lives. Instead of becoming more Christlike, they are shouting insults over the fence and watching for any misstep their neighbor may make.

I've personally witnessed anger take over someone's life. It's totally changed the arc of their progress. Consider anger and contempt in a marriage. How does that affect the spiritual growth and happiness of that couple? Anger can have eternal consequences. So, yes, those who are easily angered at others is in danger of being damned.

5:27-28

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." What Christ was teaching was definitely more refined than the Law of Moses. It was a higher level. Committing adultery is very black and white. You can point to a specific act and identify the moment adultery was committed.

But, the path to adultery started long before the actual act. It started with lust. If we don't lust, we don't commit adultery. What Christ was teaching was preventative.

However, to not lust is important in another way. Can someone lust without committing adultery? Of course! Happens all the time. So, what is the result if someone spends their time lusting for others over the course of a lifetime? How does it affect marriages? How does it affect self esteem? How does it affect happiness and contentment? The consequences of simply lusting can be severe.

Consider what happens with the Spirit when we lust? The Spirit isn't there. This can have a compounding effect over time. The loss of the Spirit regularly because of lust will have consequences that may affect our eternal trajectory.

Having said that, our bodies are built to lust. The natural man is providing chemicals that encourage us to notice those who are attractive. We naturally have urges that make lusting feel good. This is especially true of young people - whose bodies are flooded with hormones. They may be dealing with a barrage of lustful thoughts.

We shouldn't feel guilty when a thought enters our mind. The problem is when we fixate on it. When we let our imagination run. It's bad when we turn a flash of an image into a full-length movie. We must develop a method of pushing those thoughts out.

5:29-30

"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." I'm pretty sure that Jesus wasn't being literal here.

But, he's making the point of how severe consequences can be from a small point of weakness. The small sins that we commit can grow and spread until it is affecting our entire spiritual and physical lives. If I am a good person but I want to experiment in drugs a little, I have no idea how that one aspect could completely take over my life.

We have to be willing to prune off the weak parts of our character. We have to be willing to give something up. If we have a porn problem, it would be better to throw away our computers. If a job is ruining your marriage, it may be better to quit.

This could also be social. If we have a friend who is bringing us down, it might be a good idea to remove that person from our life.

5:38-41

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." This is a good one for me to read every day. I struggle with this.

We humans have a strong sense of fairness. We like things to be fair. In some cases, we'd rather get nothing than have someone else get more than we did. It's weird.

If someone does something nice for us, we naturally feel like we should do something back. It's called reciprocity and it's very interesting. We all feel it.

It also works negatively. If someone does something wrong to us, we want to reciprocate. We want someone who hurts us to be punished. If someone smacks us, we want to smack them back. If someone raises their voice to us, we naturally raise our own voices. We love parity in this way.

Christ was teaching a better way. To actually resist this natural desire to punish those who have harmed us is to develop Christlike love and charity. God knows that if one of the two parties in any conflict would act this way, the conflict would would disappear.

He wants us to be unified in our discipleship in Christ. Satan wants us to be split up and on our own. Christ's teachings allow people to come together, even those where one person has harmed the other. If every time I am offended, I turn the other cheek, how much happier will I be? How much less conflict will be in my life? How much more likely will relationships heal if someone is this way? It would be a happier, more peaceful world if we'd all follow this one.

5:43-44

These verses are very important for me. This is the issue that I am working on. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?" God is working hard for our salvation. While preserving agency, he is giving us every opportunity to choose the right.

He knows that people are going to be weak. There are people who are going to treat us poorly. There are people who are taking advantage of us. There are those who will even commit acts of violence against us.

The amazing thing is that God still loves these people. He loves them while they are in the act. If he disowned and punished us when we sin, none of us would sin. It wouldn't be a great system of exercising agency. We would all fall in line pretty quickly if there were immediate, severe consequences to our actions.

He doesn't want any one of us to be an obstacle for someone else - even those who are jerks. None of us want to be the reason someone hates our religion or feels judged. He doesn't want contention to spoil the potential fellowship of his children. He doesn't want any of us to exact severe, immediate consequences when someone mistreats us.

Instead, he wants us to be an example to others - even those who are our enemies. He doesn't want us to be stumbling block in the path for others but a light to guide them. He wants us to quickly forgive and love unconditionally our brothers and sisters. As you do, you become "the children for your Father which is in heaven."

We grow when we are kind to those who mistreat us. We get a taste of how Heavenly Father loves. It really strengthens us.

But consider how much growth we receive when we love those who are kind to us and love us back? Loving those who love us is enjoyable but it's not necessarily making us more Godlike. There isn't an eternal "reward" for loving those who love us. Being kind to those who are kind to us is something that any natural man would do.

Imagine if the world followed the words in these five verses?? How would our planet change? How would societies and cities be? How would political differences be resolved? How would it affect our civil court system? How would it change your neighborhood? If we could all live this way, we would all progress much faster as we strive to become like our Heavenly Father.

5:48

Speaking of which: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." This is the goal for all of us.

However, this verse may cause some perfectionist stress in folks. We all must realize that perfection doesn't happen in this life.

I don't know when it will happen but I know it will. That kind of faith keeps me on course. I'm glad that Jesus didn't say, "Be pretty good if you can." That isn't really a great destination. That doesn't inspire me to keep striving. That doesn't let me know what the goal is.

If I want to go to Germany, my goal needs to be Germany. It's a long way off, but having the right destination helps me stay on course along the way.

I just need to remember to not get stressed and feel guilty because I haven't arrived after a few minutes. If I know it'll take a long time, it makes me more content with the progress I've made - as long as I'm heading in the right direction. My main concern in the moment is trajectory. Is my trajectory headed towards perfection or something else.

Luke

6:9-11

A man with a withered hand was at the synagogue where Jesus was teaching. It's interesting that the Pharisees were watching hin to see if he would heal on the sabbath - they could accuse him. What kind of strategy is this?? How far gone are they? I can't imagine being in a meeting with them where they concoct this plan to catch Jesus healing on the sabbath! Could they be so blinded by their own pride and false authority? Were they that threatened by him?

"Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus." Jesus was making the point about how their rules had superseded the whole point of the law of Moses. They had truly "built a hedge" around the law with unnecessary rules.

Their rules had become their God. It wasn't about reverencing God or serving others. It had become a contest to see who could be the most obedient to the most rules. Their contest was fueled by pride and seeing themselves as great than others. It was not done out of love and selflessness.

By the way, I love picturing Jesus "looking about upon them all" when he healed the man. It emphasized the point.

Of course, "they were filled with madness." They overreacted. They gave up their grasp on common sense. They weren't seeing clearly because of their own insecurity, fear, anger, whatever. Their lens of bias was blinding.

Reading this, I have to consider times where I have been filled with madness. Are there times that I am so angry or frustrated or scared that I don't see reality clearly. Have I been so frustrated with a person or situation where I am not thinking logically? When emotions are present, we can lose control of our frontal lobe. Our lizard brain takes over and we become, for all intents and purposes, mad. I must catch myself in these moments and center myself and keep things in perspective.

6:12

"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." It's important to remember how often Jesus prayed to his Father in Heaven. He had a good relationship. I believe that this relationship was based on conversation.

We must learn from Jesus and follow his example in building a close relationship with our Father in Heaven. He is our Father too. We don't have as important a role but we are still important to our Father. We have the opportunity to build a close relationship.

6:24-26

"But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." Why are we "woeing" for these people? Is there something wrong with being rich or full or laughing or spoken well of?

The problem is when we feel self-sufficient and that we don't need God. When things are good, we start to forget Him. We don't see how we are so reliant on him. We aren't turning to him. We don't feel the pull to have a close relationship with him.

When we are poor and hungry and weeping, it's much easier to turn to God. It's much easier to remain humble and teachable. I can tell you, as a missionary, we had very little luck in the nice neighborhoods in our mission. We always fond opportunities to teach in the poor areas.

We can't mistake the good things of this world as the point of our existence. It isn't what we are working for. If we consider wealth as our "consolation," we will have missed the purpose of life.

6:37, 41-42

"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." As I've written before, one of the two main purposes of life is for us to become selfless and loving towards our fellow man.

If we are judgmental, it doesn't help us be selfless. If we think less of someone, it doesn't help us serve them. If we look down on someone, it doesn't help us build them up. If we consider someone a sinner, it's harder for us to see ourselves that way.

When we judge, we literally are judging ourselves. We're lowering our trajectory of progress. We're limiting our progression. We're not understanding the purpose of being on this earth. So, it's not that God is keeping track of how we judge and will judge us the same way. It's that this judgmental behavior literally affects our progression. There is no consequence for the object of our judgement - the only consequence is for ourselves. We are pronouncing judgment on ourselves when we judge!

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye." It's easy to get fixated on the bad choices that others make. It is always easier to see what others are doing wrong.

There are three big reasons for this:

1. We love to see ourselves as the hero. Our brains do a good job of helping us ignore our personal weaknesses. We don't want to see ourselves as a villain in any way. Even when we do something wrong, our brains go to work to rationalize it so we feel better about it.

2. We are too close to our own weaknesses to see them clearly. We literally can't see the forest for the trees. We see everything from our perspective. This perspective can have a lot of biases that make us blind to our own issues.

3. It feels good to see the faults in others. If others are weak, we seem stronger in comparison. This is pride. It's not how good we are, it's how much better we are than others. We love to compare ourselves with those who aren't as good.

If we spent more time thinking about how to resolve our own faults rather than focusing on others, we'd be more evolved.

6:43-45

" For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit." We can know what someone is about by what they do. A good person does good things and an evil person does evil things. The good news is that we can see actions.

We should consider our progression in this way. What are we doing? How do we speak? What do we do with our hands? Are we helpful and productive? Or, are we cynical and idle? We should regularly consider what kind of fruit we are producing.

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." I especially like the last line. What comes out of our mouth reveals the contents of our heart. What we say is from the overflow of our heart.

Our mouths are a good indicator of what is in our heart. Our mouth is the thermometer of our heart. We can tell what's happening in there by what comes out.

6:46-49

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." If we believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior...and not follow what he says, we aren't building on a solid foundation.

We can still build a house. It can be a big, beautiful house that all the neighbors are jealous of. We can appear to have the best house in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, that nice house can have a lousy foundation. So, when the hard times come, the house will fall "immediately." It was all a mirage. It appeared beautiful but wouldn't last.

Our lives can be this way. We can build lives that appear beautiful. We can appear to be perfect on Facebook or Instagram. But, when the hard times come, and they always do, our lives can collapse.

But, if our foundation runs deep through continued obedience to Christ's words, no worldly opposition can knock it down.

There are lots of principles that appear to offer a solid foundation. There are lots of gurus that will tell you the secret to a happy life. The only words you can completely trust are Christ's. If you study and follow His words, you're on a sure foundation.