Matthew 5-7 Essay, Research Paper
Matthew 5-7 Reaction Paper
Matthew 5-7 is better known as the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are sets of
rules that God gives us to abide by. There are a lot of different rules, but they
can be condensed very easily. They tell us that people that suffer here on Earth
will prosper up in Heaven. If we are persecuted for speaking his word or out of
love for him we will be greatfully rewarded. That we should use the gifts God
gave us to thier full potential and praise God s name with them. It also covers the
sacred act of matrimony and the different ways that adultery is committed. The
Beatitudes tell us to pray because we want to be closer to God not because we
want to make ourselves look good to others. They show that if we depend totally
on God that he will provide everything for us, and we should not doubt him. They
say that we should take the harder roads (Decisions) by doing what God taught
us.
The Beatitudes relate to American Society today because we think that a
person with more money is worth more time that a person without as much.
This is a very bad assumption, those who are rich should give to the poor till
they are equal because we are all equal in the eyes of God. I was watching
Who Wants to be a Millionaire and saw a woman win five hundred thousand
dollars. When the host asked her what she planned to do with the money she
said Give a lot of it to charity This is the first time I have heard a person say
that in a long time. This showed me that there are still good people today.
Another teaching of the beatitudes is that we should use our gifts and
talents to thier full potential and to help glorify God s name. We as a society skip
over this too much. We hide our talents or use them in a very wrong manner.
Loving Enemies; in our society I have heard of a lot of people killing
others over petty differences. Jesus teaches that we should love those who hurt
us. We can love those who are nice to us and love us back very easily, but to
love a person who wrongs you many times is a very hard challenge.
We should not judge others by the color of their skin, their facial
expressions, and the clothes they wear. We need to look inside the person and
see who they really are. Just this year there was a freshman that looked
different, he had a lot of confidence and I did not like him because of the way he
looked. Just recently I joined the wrestling team and got to talking to him. I
started seeing through the appearance of him and into his personality. You know
what? He is really a cool guy. Along with not judging other people, we need to
stop criticizing others for thier actions. In our society we point fingers and tell
others not to do a lot of different things and then turn right around and do the
same things ourselves. I saw a picture painted on the side of a building a few
years back that was a real eye-opener for me. It was a picture of the Earth, and
under it said TO FIX IT; FIRST FIX YOURSELF! I started to look back at all
the times I try to make others perfect when I myself am not perfect.
The Beatitude that most relates to American Society today was The True
Disciple (Chap 7 Verse 21-23) because in our society we think Ohh I can do
this God will forgive me anyway. and do very awful things. We need to realize
that he does forgive us but if we keep doing the same thing over and over, he
will take it into consideration when we are waiting to be judged.
When I first got the assignment to read these scriptures I did not think too
much of it. But as I read, translations, messages and thoughts came flying at me.
The Beatitudes just started talking to me and filled both my mind and my heart,
so I started writing. This assignment really opened my eyes to what God
demands of us. It is not all that much, but if we do follow him we will be greatly
rewarded.