Having a “Be” Attitude

“And he opened his mouth, and taught them … ” – Matthew 5:2

How precious is the word of God because we “shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) The word is a wonderful seed that when planted in our soul and nourished by the spirit, transforms us into His very image and countenance.

Jesus taught us what manner of people we ought to be in word and in deed. Arguably, his greatest discourse regarding the character of mankind is found in the sermon he preached “on the mount” as well as to those on this continent as recorded in third Nephi.

In this short sermon we find eight principle marks of Christian character, two metaphors of salt and light that indicate the kind of influence we should have, what our attitude should be toward the moral law of God, how to be sincere in our religious devotion, how our ambitions toward material things should be expressed, how we should relate one to another, and where our commitment should be.

But the Sermon on the Mount is a description of character and not a code of ethics or of morals. It is not to be regarded as law or a kind of new ‘Ten Commandments’ or set of rules and regulations which are to be carried out by us – but rather as a description of what we Christians are meant to “be.” It relates to our living life in the presence of God, in active submission to Him, and in entire dependence upon him.

Before we can do anything we must “be”come something. Our actions are determined by our character and our character must be forged by the word of God and the transforming power of His spirit through our humble submission to both.

The gospel places all its primary emphasis upon “be”ing, rather than doing and it puts a greater weight upon our “attitude” then upon our actions. Its main stress in on what you and I essentially are rather than on what we do because what we are determines what we do.

Our Savior died to enable us to live the Sermon on the Mount. That he might “purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” and nothing shows the absolute need of a new birth, and of the Holy Spirit and His work within, so much as the Sermon on the Mount. The “be”atitudes ought to crush us to the ground. They show us our utter helplessness and help us understand that were it not for a new birth, we would be undone. There is nothing more fatal that for the natural man to think that he can take the beatitudes and try to put them into practice. Only a new man can live this new life.

Yes, Jesus taught. But he did not come to just teach a new ethic. He came to inaugurate God’s kingdom — an entirely new and different kingdom — and in His sermon he gave us a glimpse of the character and nature of the citizens of God’s kingdom.

May our “attitude be” to become the sons and daughters of God through submission to the transforming power of His spirit and grace.