A Guide to Kingdom Living

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 the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:6-10 CSB

As we talked about in the last post, the beatitudes are a portion of the “Sermon on the Mount” which is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. These ethics that Jesus is calling us to live out are impossible to achieve on our own, but they show us our need for God’s grace and mercy, and force us to lean into the Holy Spirit as we’re tested.

We talked about the first three in another post, so let’s launch into the final five now!

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 CSB

I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t do hungry well. I get a little (okay, maybe a lot) frustrated with life, and I don’t usually calm down until I’ve eaten a good meal. 

I am desperate for food by the time my stomach starts growling, and I am highly distressed until my lovely husband swings through whichever place I’m craving and brings me something with chicken in it. 

Those that are hungry and thirsty for righteousness are the ones that are desperate for being morally right, distressed at the idea of being unfulfilled in this regard.

We have been given scripture that is rich with God’s Word, also known as explicit instructions on how to seek righteousness. All we have to do is obey.

But, this is more than just skimming the Scriptures for instructions on what to do about road rage, or how to deal with a difficult leader. This is seeking to do right by God with such intensity that it shapes our actions all the time. 

Jesus promises us that if we seek righteousness like this, we will be satisfied. 

I really like this word, filled, because I diet sometimes. Usually because someone else has asked me to join them, and I am never filled. There’s something sad about wanting to eat chicken nuggets, and having to eat a salad instead. Especially since half an hour later, I’m hungry again. I’m not alone on this, right??

But Jesus promises the opposite. If we seek righteousness in all that we do, we will be filled. We will never be left hanging like lettuce tends to, we will be completely satisfied.

Blessed are the Merciful

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 CSB

This is the first beatitude for how we should be interacting with others. The Greek word for merciful here is eleēmones which means compassionate. If you’re like me, I can use the word compassionate in a sentence, but I don’t know the exact definition. Well, here it is! Compassion is a form of love that is shown when we see others are suffering. 

I don’t know about you, but the biggest mercy I’ve been shown is God’s. We deserve condemnation, but God gives us grace instead. We deserve eternity away from God, but He chose to invite us into His family instead. 

Let’s spend a moment just praising God for this! There’s nothing we did or can do to deserve this, it’s just God loving us. 

This is an attribute of God (so is the love I just mentioned but let’s pretend like it’s obvious I meant mercy). Not only is it an attribute, it’s a communicable attribute, which means we can do it, too! 

Mercy is something we can do because God has shown us how, and that is beautiful. 

Jesus is telling us that while those who have been chosen will experience God’s mercy regardless of if we are merciful, those of us who truly understand the magnitude of God’s mercy will want nothing more than to show mercy to those around us! 

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 CSB

There’s two things we need to know about God in regards to this verse: God is invisible and God is holy. John 4:24 tells us that God is Spirit. Spirit isn’t something we can see, but instead something we have faith in. Habakkuk 1:13 is my favorite verse that shows how we cannot be with God as sinners. “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” (Habakkuk 1:13a). God is holy and He cannot look upon or tolerate us as we are.

Sanctification is that word we use for becoming “holy.” This isn’t something we can do on our own; it isn’t even possible to fully complete this while on this earth. But, it is the process that makes us able to come before Him even though we are sinners. Jesus died for us so that we can begin the process of sanctification, seeking holiness and a pure heart by becoming more like Him. 

Through this process, paired with faith, we are able to see God- through His scriptures, through our experiences, through the promises that we have in Him. But Jesus goes a step further and tells us that we will see God truly.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 CSB. 

John explains in his first letter that as God’s children (aka the people who seek Him and aim for sanctification) will see Him as He is either in Heaven or on the new earth.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 CSB

Conflict is a part of our everyday life, this comes from living in a world where we are separated from God. We are all individuals who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, hurt others and cause strife. 

I’m actually in the middle of the unnecessary drama that comes from two sinners attempting to work together on a project. It’s unavoidable. But, we have a perfect example of a peacemaker: Jesus.

Jesus is the greatest peacemaker, becoming an olive branch between us and God. 

We are to be peacemakers on our own behalf as well as others. We need to see conflict and run to it instead of away from it, and help each other be the peacemakers we are called to be.

Peacemakers protect unity with everything they have, seeking a way to work together and bear each other’s burdens. Sometimes this looks like finding a solution where everyone is happy, but other times it looks like agreeing to disagree and finding a way to work around each other peacefully. Wisdom from the Holy Spirit helps us decide which one is most beneficial, so don’t be afraid to seek it!

By seeking peace with others, we are loving God’s family the way we are called to, and are blessed by being a part of the family ourselves.

Blessed are those who are Persecuted because of Righteousness

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:10 CSB

We all know what it means to be persecuted, it’s being treated with hostility for our faith. While this looks different in our day and age, it's still prevalent. 

An example of this is a friend of mine who was asked to stop coming to family gatherings because she made the family feel uncomfortable. She spoke openly about Jesus and refused to drink or be a part of crude conversations. She made them feel like bad people, so they didn’t want her around.

When we choose to live according to God’s will, obeying His Word, we are seeking righteousness (just as we mentioned earlier!) and this sets us apart from the people who choose to be a part of the world.

It isn’t easy to stand by our faith in the midst of being treated unfairly, or even worse, but it is what we are called to.

But even though it’s difficult, it is rewarded with the most spectacular promise. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours. What better promise than to spend eternity in God’s Kingdom, WITH HIM!? 

Jesus takes the time in this passage to speak to His followers then, and by this He is also addressing His followers now. He tells us how to act not just outwardly but also how we should feel inwardly. He is calling the adopted family of God to live according to the will of His Father, our God, in a series of ideals that seem impossible! But we can have faith, knowing that we are not alone in the endeavor. 

I want to challenge you today to really pray about the beatitudes. What do they mean to you? Before I wrote this, I spent some time memorizing them, and I want you to think about doing this, too. It makes it easier to remember what we’re called to do if we can easily recall them.