These Red Letters: Looking at the Sermon on the Mount Part 3: A Quiet Faithfulness

Jesus final instruction for behavior in the world is that the kind of love and life that He intends for us is not meant to be a show. It is meant to be quiet, genuine, and natural.

Jesus returns back to the ever important relationship with Father God and just how it is we converse with Him. His directions call us to simple and direct prayer, not complex and wordy speeches!

As a precious side note, Jesus reminds His listeners that our relationship with God is secondarily expressed in our relationships with others and that if forgiveness is our first encounter with Him, then it should also define our attitude with His other children, our brothers and sisters.

What Jesus attacks throughout this message is religiosity, which is the belief that we can impress or influence a Holy God into anything by doing things loudly. He is not a fallen human like us, swayed by appearances, so Jesus takes that burden off of His people and shows us better!

If God is Father and provider, than no matter how much money we earn or save, it amounts to nothing but a tool for His purposes and ways. It follows that if we can’t impress God, who is most important, then we shouldn’t worry to impress others either- we have what matters!