Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:3, 5, 7-9 NAS
The Sermon on the Mount, perhaps Jesus’s most famous sermon, address our attitudes. Theologians have called this series of teachings the Beatitudes. I guess His lesson could be summed us this way: “Your attitudes will determine what you will be.” Hence, the BE-attitudes.
Jesus knew that developing a correct perspective on life was critically important to our lives and to our ministries, and so He spoke first and often on that very topic. In fact, before Jesus taught His disciples about miracles, discipleship or how to deal with the Pharisees, He taught them about attitudes! Every phrase of the Beatitude deals with building right attitudes because they become the lamp of the body (Matt. 6:22-23), the very way we see and interpret the world around us.
An interesting scientific theorem states that if your basic premise is inaccurate, then every subsequent conclusion thereafter will also be inaccurate. What this means is that if you are solving a math problem and you begin to determine 2 + 2 =5, then all of your following calculations will be incorrect. Likewise, if my core attitudes and perspectives toward life and people are skewed, then I too will experience massacre after massacre in the form of devasted relationships foiled expectations and broken dreams.
Jesus knew that from the core of our beings, we need to develop a right attitude toward life. Let your eye, your attitude, be clear and your every conclusion thereafter will have the potential for success!
**SIDE NOTE** A sign hanging on the wall of an old gas station holds for us a poignant truth. It reads:
Why Customers Quit
1% die
3% move
3% move.
5% leave because of location.
7% quit because of product dissatisfaction.
84% of customers quit because of an attitude of indifference shown to them by one of the employees
