Gold Standards

Top international companies prefer themself to be certified with some standards, some get that done with ISO (International Standards Organization) standards for their domain (banking / retain / automobile etc..) of work. Likewise in India, there is BIS – Bureau of Indian standards, when a product is certified by BIS, we all feel the quality of the product is high and we buy that product with great trust. Have you ever wondered what are the conditions that company must meet to achieve this BIS or ISO standards, there is a list of compliance activities / check list that these companies need to follow to get BIS or ISO certified? We will not get to those details of compliance etc.., but you get the idea of standards and how it’s used that’s the point I want to make.

Similarly, as Christians, Jesus has high standards for us to live, he did preach on this in the Sermon on the Mount. The first portion of the Sermon on the Mount is known as the Beatitudes, which means “The Blessings”, the blessings given to every believer in Christ. this can be understood as giving the believer his “be – attitudes” – the attitudes he should “be.”

All these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians, Beatitudes are “Gold Standards for a Christian life”, very difficult to follow we should aspire to follow with the help of Holy Spirit.

The Beatitudes is in Matthew 5:3-11, We will look the 10 Beatitudes, each of them to understand that will help us make us achieve our life Goals.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit

' “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 'Matthew 5:3

• Those who are poor in spirit, so poor they must beg to be rewarded.

• They receive the kingdom of heaven, because poverty of spirit is an absolute prerequisite for receiving the kingdom of heaven

• The call to be poor in spirit is placed first for a reason, because it puts the following commands into perspective. They cannot be fulfilled by one’s own strength, but only by a beggar’s reliance on God’s power

2. Blessed are those who mourn

' Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 'Matthew 5:4

• No one mourns until they are poor in spirit, “mourn” refers to the godly sorrows for their Sins, which produces repentance to salvation as Paul described in

'Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. '2 Corinthians 7:10

• For they shall be comforted: Those who mourn over their sin and their sinful condition are promised comfort. God allows this grief into our lives as a path to get us to his planned destination.

3. Blessed are the meek

' Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 'Matthew 5:5

• To be meek means to show willingness to submit and work under proper authority. It also shows a willingness to disregard one’s own “rights” and privileges.

• As we live a life in world, we give up the self-desires and rights to control our life and we pass all our individual rights to Jesus. It’s like how a slave gives himself to the master. Total surrender to Jesus.

• The promise “they shall inherit the earth” proves that God will not allow his meek ones to end up on the short end of anything, they will inherit all the blessings of the earth as Jesus determines what is best for them.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

' Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 'Matthew 5:6

• We Christians hunger for many things: power, authority, success, comfort, happiness – but I don’t know how many of us are hungry and thirsty to be righteous

• How does this hunger and thirst for righteousness express itself?

o A man longs to be sanctified and be made holy every day.

o A man longs to hear the word and follow God’s word to be made righteous.

o A man moans as he walks in the righteous path due to the sins he commits as humans we are bound to be sinful in what we do.

• For they shall be filled: Jesus promised to fill the hungry; to fill them with the word of God as much as they can eat and fill the thirst with the Holy spirit thru prayer. This is a strange filling that satisfies us and keeps us to longing for more.

5. Blessed are the merciful

' Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 'Matthew 5:7

• Blessed are the merciful: This beatitude addresses those who will show mercy, it speaks to those who have already received mercy. It is mercy to be emptied of your pride and brought to poverty of spirit. It is mercy to be brought to mourning over your spiritual condition. It is mercy to receive the grace of meekness and to become gentle. It is mercy to be made hungry and thirsty after righteousness. Therefore, this one who is expected to show mercy is one who has already received it.

• The merciful one will show it to those who are weaker and poorer.

• If you want mercy from others – especially from Jesus – then you should take care to be merciful to others.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart

' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 'Matthew 5:8

• The phrase “pure in heart” has the idea of straightness, honesty, and clarity.

• There can be two ideas connected to this.

o One is of inner moral purity as opposed to the image of purity or ceremonial purity.

o The other idea is of a single, undivided heart – those who are utterly sincere and not divided in their devotion and commitment to God.

• The purity in heart receives the most wonderful reward. They shall enjoy greater intimacy with God than they could have imagined. “For they will see God”

7. Blessed are the peacemakers

' Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 'Matthew 5:9

• This does not describe those who live in peace, but those who bring about peace, overcoming evil with good. One way we accomplish this is through spreading the gospel, in evangelism we make peace between man and the God whom they have rejected and offended.

• The reward of peacemakers is that they are recognised as true children of God. They share his passion for peace and reconciliation, the breaking down of walls between people.

• He is blessed by God; though the peacemaker may be ill-treated by man, he is blessed by God.

• He is blessed to be among the children of God, adopted into his family, surrounded by brothers and sisters through the ages.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake

' Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:10

• It’s the same God who gives the righteous works to us as we hunger and thirst, once we follow the righteous deeds that he gives we may be persecuted to obey what he asks us to do, but don’t lose heart the kingdom of heaven is there for those who walk in righteous path.

9. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you

' “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 'Matthew 5:11

• There is difference between the earlier persecution (Matt 5:10) and this one ((Matt 5:11), these insults / persecutions are because we follow Jesus to get to the path of righteousness.

• You can be falsely accused as you follow his commands, remember Jesus was falsely accused as well.

'But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” ' Matthew 12:24

10. Rejoice and be glad great is your reward in heaven

'Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 'Matthew 5:12

• When you hunger / thirst for righteousness and get insults and persecutions, rejoice for the reward is in heaven.

• The reward in heaven is described in revelations

'I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. 'Revelation 20:4-6

Like I said described earlier Beatitudes are the attitudes that one should “Be” in Christ, to receive his blessings, meditate each of these 10 things slowly and try to practice that every day consciously. Yes, It’s very hard, that’s why it’s “Gold Standards” for us. I am sure you will fail, know that you are human born in sin, but if you are meek to God, with the help of his spirit you will become holy and righteous day by day and on the final day when we all stand in front of him for his judgement, you will have a greater reward in heaven.