Blessed are...

Characteristics of the Kingdom

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. his disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them…” Matthew 5:1-2

Do you know the distinction between spiritual fruit and spiritual gifts? Scripture identifies nine different fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[1] Spiritual gifts, on the other hand, are many and varied. Some are called to be evangelists, others are gifted as pastors or teachers.[2] Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift, which it is our responsibility to discover and use. But every Christian is expected to display all of the spiritual fruits. You don’t get to pick and choose between them. A faithful Christian will, as the years unfold, become more loving, more joyful, more peaceable, and so on.

So, are the Beatitudes more like the gifts of the Spirit or the fruit of the Spirit? Are we all expected to be meek, for example, or is that characteristic reserved for the few? And if that’s not expected of me, do I need to worry about being meek? After all, if God has not given me that gift, how can I be expected to display it? The truth is, of course, that the Beatitudes are not optional extras in the Christian life, distributed among God’s people, but not normative. We are all to develop the characteristics, and to be blessed. Some of them may be more appropriate for certain stages of life than others, but we cannot afford to ignore any of them. We are to be both poor in spirit and pure in heart, recognizing our spiritual poverty and seeking single-minded devotion to the purposes of the Kingdom of God.

As we study them, it is important that you take the opportunity to examine your own heart. The temptation is to examine someone else’s heart and, for example, to allocate meekness to those of our friends and acquaintances that we believe are particularly in need. Avoid the temptation. Jesus’ sermon is not for the fellow in the next pew; it is directed to you.


Holy God,
Help me as I study Your Word, to be open to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit. May I be ready to hear His voice, to listen to His promptings, be they gentle or urgent or both. Then may I be swift to respond. So may the characteristics of Your Kingdom be found in me. In the name of Christ, my Lord.
Amen.


[1] Galatians 5:22-23
[2] Ephesians 4:11