Steven Hudgik

Happy Are The... Steven Hudgik

THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE BEATITUDES

The Beatitudes are one of Jesus' most important teachings. Yet, many Christians don't understand what Jesus is teaching in the Beatitudes. These "blessings" can seem confusing and paradoxical. At times Jesus seems to be teaching the opposite of what we know from simple common sense. If we are to be poor in spirit and mourning all the time, that seems like a miserable way to live. And the meek will inherit the earth? Who wants to be a meek push-over!

And there is a paradox. Jesus doesn't seem to practice what He preaches. He was poor in spirit and meek when, with anger, He entered the temple "and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves." (Matthew 21:12)

So what's going on? Was Jesus a hypocrite? Or are we not correctly understanding the Beatitudes?

Go deeper, and let the light of the gospel shine as you gain an understanding Jesus' teaching and how it applies to your life. You'll learn that the Beatitudes are about having the right heart... and from a right heart flows right actions. That's the key that the Pharisee's in Jesus' day missed. They were the most righteous and religious of all Jews, yet Jesus called them "white washed tombs," good looking on the outside, but dead on the inside? Why? Because they were not following the principles Jesus lays out in the Beatitudes. Their hearts were not right.

Follow Jesus' teaching. Learn how you can have a right heart.