A man once gathered together his friends and spoke to them on the subject of life and happiness. He loved these friends, and because he himself knew the way that leads to a fruitful and happy life, he wanted to share this knowledge with those he loved. Thus he set forth those qualifications for being blessed, or happy, which today we refer to as the Beatitudes. The speaker of those words, Christ Jesus, then continued in his Sermon on the Mount to instruct his disciples further on matters important to their welfare and discipleship as followers of the Christ.
One day in the effort to gain inspiration the writer turned in her Bible to this account of Jesus' basic teachings. She had a great desire to find the deeper meaning of his words.
As she studied the chapters in Matthew that contain this sermon, a new concept began to unfold to her. She reasoned that Jesus was talking personally with those whom he loved most dearly, yet not once did he allow his friends the selfish pleasure of turning the occasion into a discussion of their own personal problems. Letting their thought dwell upon themselves, she realized, would certainly not have been consistent with the Christian philosophy of unselfed love that he was trying to teach them.
