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If we want to live out the Beatitudes through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have to adopt attitudes and actions that are contrary to our culture. And living in a countercultural way invites the enmity of the world, just as Jesus said: “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you” (John 15:18–19). And when it does, Jesus declared, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness” (Matt. 5:10).
Sometimes Christians are “persecuted” because they are doing things that are rude, insensitive, or piously obnoxious. In those cases, the Lord doesn’t applaud. Peter clarified the persecution Jesus was talking about in the Beatitudes: “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as . . . [an] evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name” (1 Pet. 4:14–16).
Persecution comes in all shapes and sizes, and it is usually incremental. Do you ever feel like you’re being ostracized from the rest of a group because of your commitment to Christ? Have you been passed over for a promotion or even lost your job because you won’t bend your Christian principles? That’s all part of the price for living for Christ. But Jesus went on to give the persecuted this blessing: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 10).
How do you make the Beatitudes part of your everyday life? Meditate on one of these attitudes a day for a month and ask God to help you live it out throughout that day. At the end of the month, evaluate your relationship with Christ and how it may have changed. Then continue into the next month . . . and the next . . . and the next. What will you gain? Only the blessing of God.
About this Plan
In the face of loss or fear, we might wonder how we could ever be joyful. Jesus told his disciples about eight key attitudes that lead to joy, no matter our circumstances. This passage in Matthew, called the Beatitudes, includes some of the most familiar but misunderstood verses in the Bible. These verses can teach us to experience a joy unlike any other!
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