Being Blessed by the Beatitudes

This week has been rough. My almost three year old has been exploring how far he can push boundaries with his parents. My one year old is convinced that she needs to be surgically attached to me for a large portion of the day. To be honest, I feel like I don’t even know who I am these days. I feel like my day consists of protecting Sadie from getting wailed on by Zachary, cleaning up/fixing meals with Sadie attached to me like a kangaroo joey, enforcing time-outs/brain storming disciplinary strategies, and then everything just seems to be on a repeated loop.

There are certainly great things about each day; like when Sadie wraps her little arms around my neck and presses her face close to mine, or watching Zachary and Sadie delighting in a bath time splash session, or hearing Zachary talks about his day enthusiastically, but we are definitely in a season where most of the day is hard and we are trying to find our rhythm again. I seem to be asking myself the same questions over and over again. How many temper tantrums can one toddler throw in a day? Are time outs even effective? Am I making a difference in the lives of my kids? Am I showing them the love of Christ in my parenting? How can I do that when my anger flares up and I lose my patience? How can I live up to the standards that Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount as a parent? Even though I lose many battles in a given day, I know that I am equipped by the One who is the Ultimate Parent to guide me in parenting my children well, and you are too. We just need to remind ourselves of this fact, and sometimes we need that reminder multiple times a day. Let’s look at what Jesus taught on the mountainside.

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom and heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:1-12

The Sermon on the Mount was the longest recorded sermon of Jesus.  When the people heard Jesus preach on the Beatitudes, they were, no doubt, confused because each beatitude was – and still is - a contradiction of the world’s way of life. Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, but the world values pride and personal independence. Jesus said blessed are the meek and those who mourn, but the world says we should strive for power and happiness. Jesus said blessed are the righteous and merciful, but the world says we should pursue personal gain and should do so in any means accessible.  So basically, to be blessed means to be a walking contradiction to what our flesh desires and society deems as acceptable. How then, can we meet the mark that the Lord has set for us when everything in us and around us points us in the opposite direction?

The first is to see yourself as God sees you. The Bible is essentially one big love story between God and his creation, which includes you. The “Cliff Notes” version goes like this: God creates everything and deemed it good, but after he created man, it was then that He said it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31).  God gives Adam and Eve a simple rule: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17), but Satan tricks Eve into thinking she needs to be able to see both good and evil. Up until that moment, Adam and Eve only knew good, therefore Satan’s offer was to expose them to evil and so Eve is deceived and eats from the tree and gives some fruit to Adam (Genesis 3:6). Their eyes were then opened to sin and they felt naked, ashamed and fearful – all things they never knew or felt until that moment. They also broke their Father’s heart who desperately desired a relationship with his creation but now that relationship was marred, so God made a new plan.  This plan would bridge the gap between His perfect righteousness and his broken children. This plan was his own Son, Jesus, who would come to earth in the most humble way to die as an atonement of our sins and then rise again three days later. That kind of sacrifice shows just how crazy in love with you God is. The Bible is God’s love story written out for you. In it, he tells you truths about who you are in Him. You are worthy (Ephesians 1:4). You are loved (Romans 8:38-39). You are meaningful (Ephesians 1:11). You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). You are redeemed and forgiven (Colossians 1:22).

1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”  When we start to view ourselves as God views us, we don’t have time to entertain thoughts that devalue us. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t skinny/smart/creative/wealthy/funny/etc. enough for society’s standards. Sometimes, when I am feeling low, I think about this truth. My Father loves me. My Father desires to be in relationship with me. My Father never leaves me. My Father strengthens me. When I reflect on these truths, my self-worth rises and I remember who I am. I am a daughter of the King (John 1:12) and so are you. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, when God looks at us, he sees us washed and redeemed. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past. If you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, then our Father looks at you and sees righteousness.

However, it is not enough just to bask in your knowledge of how treasured you are; you need to act on that truth. Love is an action. It is a choice. You need to make that choice every day – multiple times a day, and that is hard because our flesh desires the exact opposite of what Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount. So then we need to live differently than the world lives and we can do so by trying to be more like Jesus. This may seem like a daunting task, and certainly, we will never be perfect, but we don’t have to do this alone. Jesus told his disciples that he was going to send the Helper for us, who is the Holy Spirit who will be with us always (John 16:7). And we also know that this Helper is greater than “he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4) so we can overcome the traps that Satan sets for us to fail. We will fail but the Holy Spirit will help refine us if we truly desire to imitate Jesus.

The take away here should be that it is possible to be blessed. It is possible to develop the attitudes Jesus taught when we see ourselves the way God sees us because that elevates our self-worth and stirs a desire in us to love others. When we love others we are acting more like Jesus and when we act more like Jesus we make the choice to be righteous which is how God already sees us.

Ephesians 5:1-2 can sum up this lesson beautifully:

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

**Originally written for Emerge Mothers Academy Parenting Class**