"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24)

I am convinced that the words spoken by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are the most important and transformative words that exist. They are a blueprint to a radical Christian life worth living and dying for. A life lived faithful to these commands will change the world far more than any Occupy Wall Street protest. Recently, I've been reading and discussing Matthew 5-7 with some other young people, and we are determined to build on the rock of faith by finding practical ways to live out these teachings, here and now.

Take for instance the words "No one can serve two masters…you cannot serve both God and money." I understand this to mean that I should devote my entire being to serving others in simple daily acts of love rather than seeking physical comfort and pleasure. In contrast to a nation that seems committed to the pursuit of material happiness, this is counter-cultural and requires sacrifice. If the words of the Sermon on the Mount are to be taken seriously though, everything must be given up for the promised goal: the coming of God's Kingdom.

Another verse from Matthew 5:8 confronted us: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." For me, this means resisting the natural urge to flirt and fall into casual relationships. If I have pure thoughts and am free from vanity, I will look beyond what others have or wear and find the spark of God that is in every person. Genuine, honest words and actions must rule my life. It is impossible for any person to be perfect in this regard, but I believe a bold commitment to purity is a necessity in truly following Jesus. This struggle for purity starts with self-respect and reverence for the fact that the Kingdom of God is found within everyone.

Reading further through Matthew, do I pray "Your Kingdom come, your will be done…" and mean it? Sincerely asking for God's will - not my will - to be done tests my willingness to listen to him and follow my conscience. Everything else will become nothing if I truly hunger and thirst for the justice and love promised when God's Kingdom comes to earth. God's will can be done if every day I pray for guidance to do my part. As Mother Teresa says:

"We must not think that our love has to be extraordinary. But we do need to love without getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil. These drops are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being quiet, of looking, of speaking and acting. They are the true drops of love that keep our lives and relationships burning like a lively flame."

Following the Lord's Prayer come the words "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Thinking about this, I am slowly grasping how many opportunities I have each day to forgive instead of holding grudges and building walls of mistrust and tension. Each time I let an angry thought or minor disagreement come between myself and someone else, I am giving the devil a foothold.

The Sermon on the Mount raises so many questions, questions that speak directly to us today: What does it mean not to worry about food and clothing when the gap between the wealthy and the poor in our nation widens every year and people throughout the world are starving? Do I always go the extra mile? How do I turn the other cheek? How and where does "love your enemies" apply if I care only for the people from whom I will get something in return? These are some of the questions my friends and I have been grappling with.

We do not have all the answers but are inspired to let this seeking transform our lives. And the more we read and think, the more we realize that the Sermon on the Mount needs to apply to us today as much as to the crowd that surrounded Jesus on the mountain side 2000 years ago. And there must be others out there who feel the same. Our hope is to connect with other young people who are seeking and struggling to build firmly on this rock. If we truly want to follow Jesus, we need to come together to discuss it and help each other put into practice what the Sermon on the Mount tells us. If we do this, not just with our heads but with our hearts, it will transform us and the world. We have all heard these teachings. Now is the time to build on the rock.

 

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Your Turn. Tell us what you thought about this article:

Responses

THANKS, SOSA! CHRISTIANITY IS A WAY OF LIFE - CHRIST'S WAY OF LIFE. TO LEAD THIS KIND OF LIFE REQUIRES GOD'S EMPOWERMENT

EMMANUEL C. UWALAKA
BENIN CITY, EDO STATE
NIGERIA

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I am born-again Christian from buddhist backgrouind, I want to grow more in Lord.  Here we have a small assembly, we use to do open-air preaching.  Please pray so that many perishing souls be brought into His Kingdom. 

With regards,

Yours in His eternal bond,

Robin Yonzon
Rangpo, E. Sikkim
India

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It was inspiring. Doubt creeps in at times because I don't actively attend a church. I love the Lord with my whole heart, soul and mind, though; so, this gave me a connection to my church . . . it is within me always and I should never doubt it when every morning's prayer begins with praise for my beloved Creator and the hope for God's grace to do His will to His glory.

Nancy Baker
Denton, TX

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it is necessary for each of us who call on the name of christ to seek to live as he lived to love as he loved to forgive as he forgave and to give ourselves wholly to his life and teachings not only for ourselves but the world it requires sacrifice and a willingness to give up our wills for christ to to the glory of god our father we are a family we must live as family and that can only be done with the help of the only spirit we can't do it on our own we must submit to his will and word every day of our lives it is not easy i speak from experiance but it is needful

marguerite
philadelphia, pa

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Ideally, all persons who call themselves followers of Jesus should have listened to the word of God. The term "listening" to be equipped with "doing" what is "heard". We not only is the "listener" but must also be "doers". Only then, the gospel become whole and complete, and in that way also, we are witnesses of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, many Christians like an old lion who was sleeping soundly, without feeling that he must continue to look for another man to become a "disciple of Jesus Christ". The modern world with all his lifestyle as opposed to the lifestyle of Jesus left this world rule. Europe and America are well known as a Christian nation is not enough to give testimony of Christ to the whole world, especially to the peoples of non-Christian. Islam began to develop widely in Europe and America. What sign is this? My brothers and sisters in Christ, who are in Europe and America, please think about this. Church in Indonensia continue to struggle in the midst of many suffering because we are a minority here. But we do not despair. We believe that God always protect us, and the number of Christians continues to grow every year. Let us pray for each other. God bless...

Mali Benyamin Michael
Bekasi - Jawa Barat, Indonesia

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Thank you for challenging us with what the young people are seeking in the Sermon on the Mount. As a young person myself, I don't think the reality of these words came through strongly enough, but they were imprinted on my heart forever at an early age by the church and my parents. They prepared me for life in every way possible because of this.

I think also about the words "to hunger and thirst for righteousness" and that we can actually "see God" with a pure heart. Young people, I have no answers, but I know this from my own failures: we don't have all the answers today--that is why we walk a PATH during the course of our lives. Jesus gave us a road map--I mean a real honest-to-goodness map to life in His Words. He liked to use parables because if He gave the answers straight out to us--we would never understand them. So He came to each of in His time and in His place and in His own way--so don't feel down if you don't get a "eureka moment" early in life. To learn things, you have to make mistakes. It is actually the best teacher. So don't be scared to put your foot in your mouth daily--but then also don't be scared to be the greatest Outcast of society. Jesus was. That is the best way to meet Him!Thank you so much for sharing this. It makes me elated to hear that young people are struggling to find this direction early in their lives! That is really amazing and wonderful!

Nicole