Let’s read Matthew 5:14–16You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before …
Continue reading “Being counter-cultural in Matthew 5 – Light of the world”
I said last week that in this post we’d consider Jesus’ words about salt and light. However, I wanted to take one more week to explain exactly what I mean by “counter-cultural” and why it’s an essential concept for you to understand if you’re a Christian. What does counter-cultural mean? If you live in the …
Continue reading “Being counter-cultural…what does that mean?”
Last week we considered what Jesus meant by the word “merciful”: both a willingness to forgive wrongs done to us and to show kindness to those in need. We also concluded that Jesus was not referring to people who forgive or show kindness on a handful of one-off occasions, but rather to people whose attitude …
Continue reading “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy – now it’s personal.”
Let’s move on to the fifth pronouncement of good news which Jesus made to his early followers. We see a shift in focus from the first four of Jesus’ statements in this passage. Leon Morris in the Pillar NT Commentary explains it thus: The first four beatitudes express in one way or another our dependence …
Continue reading “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
What should meekness look like in the life of a Christian in 2024? And how might your life need to change in order to embrace it? Meekness takes effort Meekness isn’t a characteristic that comes naturally to human beings. Some people’s nature is to be loud and proud and self-confident, eager to put themselves out …
Continue reading “Blessed are the meek – now it’s personal.”
Why does God allow suffering? Here is one possible reason. In one of his letters the early Christian leader Paul gives a list of what he calls “fruit of the spirit”: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) What is a “fruit of …
Nihilist to Christian