Jesus Gives the Beatitudes:
The word "blessing" is makarioi in Greek. It means to be "fully satisfied." In the New Testament this complete satisfaction comes from salvation. When Jesus lives within you, this blessing, or joy, will permeate your life. Notice that these blessings don't have to do with how good you are, or how much you have, and they are all conditional. That is to say, one must be [blank] to receive [the blessing.]
A look at the Greek will help us understand these conditions in the proper manner. Often the English has one word for many concepts. Greek defines things a little more specifically. For instance, in English we say love, one word for many types of love. In Greek, there are four words for love - but we will get to those later. For now, let's define the Greek:
Poor in spirit - ptochoi - understanding one's spiritual helplessness & dependence of Jesus Christ receive the kingdom of Heaven - eternal life
mourn - pentheo - those who regret their sins receive comfort and forgiveness for their sins
meek - praus - those willing to be honest about who they really are, those willing to submit to the authority of God and others inherit the earth.
hunger - hoi peinontes - those who hunger for righteousness will be filled with righteousness.
merciful - eleemon - those who have a caring attitude toward others will receive mercy themselves.
Those who are pure in heart - those able to encompass the preceding conditions will more clearly be able to see God.
Peacemakers - eirenopoios - those who bring peace to their fellow man are called the sons of God.
being persecuted because of righteousness - those martyred & persecuted for their faith will receive a great reward in heaven.
To me these blessing encompass the way we are to live as Christians - humble servants who put God & others first. They are a mindset, a motivation for our actions. Can we achieve perfection in these areas? No, we are human after all, but we can make it a point to implement these principals in our every day lives.
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