It isn’t that surprising when you see the attitudes of people today - even people call themselves Christians? There is a nastiness like we've never seen before. We need a serious attitude adjustment.
What did Jesus really say about our attitudes in the Bible passages which commonly referred to as the Beatitudes?
He said:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit."
Believers are supposed to be people who know who they are in Christ and not seeking the fame and fortune of a ministry. There are too many today who are promoting themselves and their own "righteousness" while hating others.
"Blessed are they that mourn."
This isn’t only referring to funerals or grieving the dead, this about someone who has true Godly sorrow. Those who mourn are very sensitive about offending the Spirit and very in tune with the Spirit. Are we concerned about others? Are we desperate enough to pray and mourn for them?
"Blessed are the meek."
Meek doesn’t mean weak. This isn’t about turning the other cheek when someone slaps us. Pride often gets in the way of our ability to be meek. We must be willing to surrender our will to His will and let go of our pride.
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness."
We should be people who want to do what is right. We should be the model of integrity. Today there are those who call evil good and representing that good is evil. This means we must be careful of the friends we hang out with. We need to prefer people with the same goal of seeking after righteousness.
"Blessed are the merciful."
We should be experts in forgiving people. When someone wrongs us, we shouldn’t be plotting our revenge or allow bitterness to take root in our hearts. We should not be easily offended. Unfortunately, some people also seem to be looking for ways to be offended.
"Blessed are the pure in heart."
The only way we will experience God’s presence in our lives is to get rid of anything that will hinder us from having a pure heart. No hidden sins or making excuses for things that are not of God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers."
We need to be people who seek peace and not desiring to stir things up. Instead of looking for ways to be mad at someone, we need to look for ways to make things right even if it requires us swallowing our pride and making the first move. We should give people the benefit of the doubt and not that everyone is against us.
"Blessed are the persecuted."
If we boldly identify ourselves with Christ, we will not be popular. Now is the time to take a stand. This is not a popular message today. Evil people do not want to be held accountable, and we will not be accepted for opposing them.
"Blessed are the believers."
We have to make a choice to either believe or not believe. Our nation is attacking those who believe in the true meaning of being a believer.
Have you ever seen a bunch of crabs in a basket? Put in a basket, crabs pull each other down in their attempt to climb to the top, which makes getting out of the basket an almost impossible task. In the same way, our negative attitudes can affect other believers. If we offer no hope, no encouragement to each other, we will not achieve what God wants us to do. Certainly, we all have our bad times or when we are going through trials. I’m not saying that we will always be sugary sweet all of the time but when our attitude is always negative, we must recognize the need to adjust our attitude back in line with the beatitudes.
