Blessed

Cheryl Smith Mitchell

Jesus taught His disciples basic principles of living the Christian life in His Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew the fifth chapter; also referred to as the Beatitudes or ebonically speaking, the attitude I be.

It is interesting to note the first beatitude; blessed (happy) is the poor in spirit – the humble. Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV) “These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

The first thing listed that the Lord hates is “a proud look.” The sin of pride is what got Lucifer and a third of the angels kicked out of heaven. But Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is the humble.

From my early youth, I was taught humility by example through my grandmother and mother. I was taught to not think of myself more highly than I ought and to defer to others when situations warranted it.

Jesus taught to be poor in spirit is to understand that we need God and are nothing without Him. In Him, we move and have our being.

The second beatitude is to be happy to mourn (your sin) for you will be comforted. David said in Psalm 51:17 (KJV), “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” We can’t be like Lot’s wife and look back or the children of Israel who complained to Moses that he took them into the desert to die because they would rather be back in Egypt. But Apostle Paul declares in Galatians 5:1 (KJV), “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Blessed are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering) for they shall inherit the earth. Many people mistake meekness for weakness but a meek person exhibits strength. Paul says in Galatians 6:1 (KJV), “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness”; without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness AMP