The Beatitudes

3 Nephi 12-17

This week I thought I would put down some thoughts about the Beatitudes. I will be drawing some from my own thoughts and some from an article "The Beatitudes: Pattern For Coming Unto Christ" in the December, 1987 Ensign .

• Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Elder Robert E. Wells wrote an article in the Ensign and in it he linked this attitude with the scripture in Mosiah chapter 3 verse 19. He said, "One of the most powerful scriptures on this attitude is from Mosiah 3:19,where King Benjamin declares that a person must become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child,submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

• And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

I think that this is an important thing because to mourn means that we have loved. When we are mourning we can then turn to our Savior and receive comfort through the Holy Ghost. I think that as we do this we can develop a better relationship with Heavenly Father and His son.

• And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

One of the main things I think about is a lesson I had in an institute class talked about the difference in perception of the word "meek". In Webster's 1828 dictionary he defined meek as: Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries.

Part of the current definition includes: deficient in spirit and courage. I don't think that the original meaning of the word describes anything as deficient. It actually sounds very strong.

• And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

 Elder Wells points out that the Joseph Smith translation and the Book of Mormon end this attitude with "the Holy Ghost". He continues,"The highest blessings of the gospel are not for the fainthearted, coolly rational, theoretical philosopher, nor for the intellectually curious. Those blessings are for those stouthearted souls who hunger and thirst for greater personal righteousness. One need not have reached spiritual perfection or sainthood to receive the blessings promised in this Beatitude. If we develop a sincere hunger and thirst, the door to higher stairs will be opened, and we can then climb them."

• And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

 Elder Wells said this best,"The principle here is that we will be judged with the same measure that we apply to others."

He also said,"we should show mercy to others because of our unlimited and unconditional love for them. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, loves us—not because we deserve it, but because we are his brothers and sisters and he has sacrificed for us. Our parents love us—not because we deserve it, but because they have sacrificed for us."

• And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

 Elder Wells had a really interesting point on what it means to be pure in heart. He said, "Limpios, the Spanish term for “pure in heart,” is translated “clean ofheart.” It refers to ceremonial cleanliness, such as the emotions felt after baptism or temple ordinances. Other interpretations refer to being clean of guilt, clean of bad habits, and clean of pollution." I thought this was a really cool point. I have often heard the other definitions or to have clean thoughts. It seems to me that part of of the definition is to be baptized.

• And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

We know that contention is not from the Savior. In order to be more like him we need to seek peace with those around us. We need to not contribute to contentious situations if we want to have the Spirit with us.

• And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

One of the main things that jumps out to me on this is what has been happening in our world today to the Christians in the Middle East and in Africa. It is horrifying to think about how they are being treated and it breaks my heart. I have wondered at times if I would have the courage to stay strong in my convictions if faced with such circumstances. Reading this attitude is a good reminder of what we are working toward. Even if we are persecuted unto death over our faith in the Savior Heavenly Father will make it right. 

• Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

I think it is neat that the Savior makes it personal here. He already said what the reward would be for those that are persecuted, but he took a moment to make sure that everyone understands that it applies to each of us personally, not just other people.