How do the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) challenge conventional ideas of happiness and success, and what do they reveal about the values of the Kingdom of God?
Which one or more than one of the Beatitudes speaks most deeply to your life, and how has it/have they shaped your personal experiences, relationships, and sense of purpose? Share specific moments that have influenced who you are becoming.
There are a total of eight beatitudes that Jesus Christ delivered as a blessing to us. These beatitudes include “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”, “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”, “blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”, “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”, “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”, and “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. For me, these beatitudes are all very well known. The biggest reason for this is because I sing them every Sunday while in the choir. The beatitudes challenge conventional ideas of happiness and success, but a couple in particular especially do. First, “blessed are the meek…” is one of them because to be meek means to be gentle, kind, and empty of all selfishness, even though most people believe that, in order to succeed, they need to look out more for themselves than for others. Secondly, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” is one because it is saying how you should be striving for righteousness and not for earthly success. Also, the beatitudes reveal a lot about the values of the kingdom of God. One that does this is the beatitude, “blessed are the poor in spirit…”. Being poor in spirit means to think that your success is not coming from what you are doing, but from God. This is different from how a lot of people think and shows the value of the kingdom of God. Another beatitude that reveals a value of the kingdom of God is “blessed are the merciful…”. To be merciful means to have compassion for everyone, even for evil-doers. Many people like to have revenge on people that do bad things or treat them badly because of what they did. But, one of the values of the kingdom of God is to treat everyone with compassion and sympathy, no matter what they have done. This is just how a few of the beatitudes challenge conventional ideas of happiness and success and what they reveal about the values of the kingdom of God, but all of the beatitudes do this in some way. To conclude, the beatitudes may just seem like some phrases sung during church, but they are a lot more meaningful in an abundance of ways.
I would say that a lot of the beatitudes apply to me but a couple that speak most deeply to my life are “blessed are the merciful…”, “blessed are the pure in heart…”, and “blessed are the peacemakers…”. First, in” blessed are the merciful…”, being merciful means to show forgiveness or compassion to others, even if they have done something sinful. I believe that these features in a person are very important. When having these characteristics, I feel like my relationships with people have been able to grow more and become more secure. A person showing compassion to others shows that they care and that is such a big thing to have to attain a good relationship. Throughout my life, I believe I have shown compassion to everyone in my life, including my friends, family, and even strangers. Next, in “blessed are the pure in heart…”, having a pure heart means to have genuine motives for the sake of good. Doing something because you believe it is right, and not just for the approval or acceptance of others, is important to do for yourself. I feel like doing this can help you become more independent which is a meaningful feature to have in your lifetime. In my life, I try to do this as much as I can in everything I do, even in my everyday life, including when I decide to admit to a mistake. Moreover, in “blessed are the peacemakers…”, being a peacemaker means to step into arguments and try to resolve them. Personally, I hate being around when an argument is happening. Because of this, a lot of the time, I try to say things to help the people resolve the argument so that they can end the dispute and make up. This has happened multiple times in my life, with friends and family, and I love being able to help work out conflicts every once in a while. Usually, this would make people happy to fix the conflict. I think this makes my relationship between the people in the argument, and the relationship of the people in the argument, stronger. In conclusion, all of the beatitudes are meaningful to me but these three are the ones that speak most deeply to my life.
