How can I be happy?
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12 (full)
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” – Matthew 5:11-12 (partial)
The longing for happiness is a primal human drive. Jesus presents His path in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He starts with eight simple statements in Matthew 5:2-12 called the beatitudes, containing the word blessed, which means happy, fortunate, or lucky.
What Jesus said will make us happy is counterintuitive.
Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) – Isn’t it true that those with a deep connection with God seem to have peace even without prosperity?
Blessed are those who mourn (5:4) – Isn’t it true that God often seems closer in times of trouble?
Blessed are the meek (5:5) – Isn’t it true that those with humble and quiet strength eventually outlast the boisterous and brash?
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (5:6) – Isn’t it true that the passion for righteousness is more gratifying than the passions of the world?
Blessed are the merciful (5:7) – Isn’t it true that people of mercy are often more respected than people of power?
Blessed are the pure in heart (5:8) – Isn’t it true that a pure heart is a reward of its own?
Blessed are the peacemakers (5:9) – Isn’t it true that the Nobel Prize goes to peacemakers over warriors?
Blessed are those who are persecuted…on my account (5:10) – Isn’t it true that those who suffer for following Jesus are on par with those who’d been persecuted for following God?
Jesus presented himself not only equal to God but as the embodiment of God’s Torah. He followed the beatitudes with comments on six specific Old Testament laws: “You have heard that it was said…But I say” (verses 21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-39, 43-44). Moses received the law. Jesus is the law.
True happiness is in Jesus. Loyalty to Jesus offers nothing less than inheritance of the kingdom of God. To know God and follow his commands always leads to the blessed life.
Is it any wonder the crowds stood stunned at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (7:28-29)?
The sermon’s big theme turned culture on its head. Lucky are the unlucky as long as they align themselves with Jesus’s words. Christians are part of an upside-down kingdom where losers are winners, the dead live, the poor are rich, and those who pick up a cross experience resurrection.
Why does this actually work? Here’s the secret: happiness comes with having a higher purpose, not possessions or protection.
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