The beatitudes (blessings) Jesus shares in Matthew 5:3-11 were never meant to be a checklist of things you need to do to be right with God, nor requirements you need to fulfill to earn God’s blessings. See them, rather, as a portrait painted by Jesus of your most authentic self—your in-Christ, made in the image of your divine Creator self.
In a way, Jesus is splashing cold water on our faces as if to say, “Wake up to your true self! The way I fashioned you is nothing like how the world wants to define you. I am reminding you of your original design in my divine image which will open you up to the joy your heart has been longing for.”
This is how you will experience the blessed journey of life.
Your life is a unique song that was meant to be sung in this world. Jesus is the only one who can sing it to you until you can hear it clearly for yourself and sing it out with childlike joy and confidence.
Here is a paraphrase I wrote of the beatitudes, along with us being light and salt in this world. This is not done phrase by phrase, but rather pulls in themes from the entire passage and communicates them in a seamless way:
Jesus reveals that, much to our surprise, we’re blessed when we come to the end of ourselves—when we know we have nothing apart from Jesus and that he is everything we need.
As we learn to trust the heart of Jesus, even allowing him to comfort us when we’re feeling crushed by loss and pain, a depth of gratitude, humility and kindness emerges, and we develop a hunger and thirst for God’s ways of living with authenticity and kindness.
With this renewed heart and spirit, we discover the mercy, purity and deep peace of Jesus within us—evidence that we belong solely to him. Jesus assures us we will be his grace-filled seasoning and his love-light in this world. Yet, because light clashes with darkness, there will be times we are going to encounter persecution and trials. Not everyone is going to be overly thrilled with you living your authentic life in Christ.
But take heart, lovers of Jesus! By God’s covenant choice to include you, the kingdom of heaven is yours. Even the earth is yours. Because you’ve chosen what is best by turning your heart and affections towards Jesus, you will continually be comforted and filled by his mercy. You’ll see and know the essence of God’s tender heart as his dearly loved children who have already inherited your Father’s kingdom.
Jesus is doing a deep work in you so that your life soars as the song he created you to beautifully release!
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