The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)

I chose to research and write about The Beatitudes because I have always loved The Sermon on the Mount and the words of Christ.

“Blessed”, according to the footnote on Matthew 5:3 says “The Latin beatus is the basis of the English ‘beatitude,’ meaning ‘to be fortunate,’ ‘to be happy,’ or ‘to be blessed.

My definition for “blessed” is pure happiness which comes from striving for perfection.

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit: Being poor in spirit is humbling yourself and realizing that you are dependent upon the Lord for everything that you have physically and that you should thank him for these things. In my life, I feel very blessed and “poor in spirit” on a daily basis. Over the years I have been through some difficult trials in my life and I don’t know where I would be without the knowledge that the Lord is there for me and that he knows me personally. To realize that he has entrusted me with my daughter-one of his special spirits, to raise as my earthly daughter, is one of the most humbling callings of my life. I would be nothing without Him and it is only because of Him and his blessings that I am able to accomplish the things that I do.

Blessed Are They That Mourn: To truly feel godly sorry. I have experienced this in my life. I am reminded of how Adam may have felt in the garden when he went after partaking of the fruit, because he realized he was naked. At first we hide from the Lord, knowing that we have done wrong and we have offended our Lord. Perhaps we don’t want to face the consequences of our actions. But inevitably, the regret and sorry of what we have done sinks into our soul and we realize that our actions caused our Savior, even the greatest of all, to bleed from every poor. And we mourn, and we feel godly sorrow for our sins. And we repent and ask forgiveness. I am so grateful for the atonement in my life and for the tender mercy of Jesus Christ who allows me to be forgiven.

Blessed Are They That Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness: After we have felt that godly sorrow for our sins and repented, we are renewed with a thirst to do nothing but good. We never want to disappoint our Heavenly Father again and so we have a new zeal to do our very best to keep the commandments. We read our scriptures and say our prayers. We attend our church meetings and fulfill our callings. There is no better feeling than knowing that you are in good standing with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that you are doing all that you can do to return to their presence.