Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes Defined Beatitude comes from the Latin word “Beatitudo”, meaning blessed or happiness. When Jesus states, “Blessed are those who . . .” He is saying, .“Happy are those who . . . “ Jesus gives us the Beatitudes in His Sermon on the Mount found in the Gospel of Matthew. The Beatitudes direct us in a way where we normally wouldn’t expect to find happiness.

Jesus’ Message: The Beatitudes Virtues: Attitudes and habits that make us likely to do what is good. For Example: - Faith, Love, Hope, Patience, Courage In biblical times, beatitudes were often given as directions for life. The Beatitudes that Jesus gave us directs our life along a path that will lead to happiness. Each person is in search of happiness in life. Jesus is leading us to find happiness by connecting God to our life. When we focus our life on God and others, we will begin to find meaning and purpose to our daily experiences

1. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. we cannot do things on our own, we rely on God to be there for us being detached from our possessions so we can share them or give them away - a call to be generous choosing to be humble be filled with the love of God are themselves and do not put on an act let you see their good points and their bad points admit they have weaknesses; they do not try to have some kind of image

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. mourning for a loved one who has died are sad when things are not going well for their friends not selfish or self-centered feel sad that so many things in the world aren’t the way they should be One can mourn over a death, an illness, a bad test mark, not reaching a goal…

3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth are gentle respond with compassion are willing to do with less, so that others can have more respect and value all life don’t force others to change don’t treat people poorly don’t try to get their own way by using physical, emotional, or verbal violence

4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” act justly they see the dignity in every person respond to the needs of others stick up for others want to do what is the right thing at ALL times

5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” understand the importance of forgiveness show love and forgiveness to others give up the idea of vengeance seek what is best for another in spite of what has been done to them help bring peace to others

6. “ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” are genuine and deal honestly with others they act out of love for God and others they make the most loving choice no matter what to love and serve is more important than to be loved and to be served are your friend at all times they are consistent toward treating people with respect and love

7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” show love and care to both friends and enemies work to make all of their relationships healthy and life giving they look for signs of love that may be going wrong and work quickly to set things right are willing to make tough decisions to do what is best for all help you patch things up help bring peace by not seeking argument’s

stick with you at all times, especially difficult times 8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” stick with you at all times, especially difficult times are not afraid of being persecuted for sticking up for people and the things they believe in look at what is the right thing to do

On a separate piece of paper, reexamine the characteristics of the Beatitudes and explain which Beatitude you currently live out the best and why. In addition, explain which Beatitude you need to improve on in your relationship with others and why.