Understanding the Beatitudes (Devotional)
Devotional / Produced by TOW Project
God wants you to be blessed. This exploration of the beatitudes will help you understand the characteristics that Jesus called "blessed" in the Sermon on the Mount and apply them in your life today.
You can find this devotional on the YouVersion Bible App (download the app here), or read Understanding the Beatitudes on Bible.com
Excerpt:
The “poor in spirit” are those who cast themselves on God's grace. It is the tax collector in the temple, beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:9-14). It is an honest confession that we are sinful and in desperate need of God. Jesus is declaring that it is a blessing to recognize our need for God’s grace. Blessed are those who realize they are spiritually bankrupt, for this realization turns them to God, without whom they cannot fulfill what they are created to do and be.
What might this blessing look like in the workplace?
If we are poor in spirit, we are able to bring an honest appraisal of ourselves to our work. We don't inflate our résumé or boast about our position. We know how difficult it is to work with people who cannot learn, grow, or accept correction because they are trying to maintain an inflated image of themselves. So we commit ourselves to honesty about ourselves. We remember that even Jesus, when he started working with wood, must have needed guidance and instruction. At the same time, we acknowledge that only with God at work within us can we put Jesus’ teachings into practice on the job.
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Author: Theology of Work Project.
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Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
