I just finished a study of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus found in chapters 5-7 in the Gospel of Matthew. It appears that the point of His message was to clarify what actually works when it comes to connecting personally with God and growing spiritually.
When seeing that Jesus wrapped up His sermon by emphasizing the long-term importance of applying all the things He had just spoken about (Matt 7:24-27), I looked for a way to summarize these truths and organize them in the form of a checklist. I’m now using this checklist to keep me on track and help me to evaluate my progress. I’m passing it on here just in case you’re looking for something similar.
The Ingredients of a Life that Lasts:
1. Humility – Come to God on His terms. Matt 5:3-6; 1 Pet 5:6
2. Love – Value people the way God does. Matt 5:7-11; John 3:16
3. Impact – Purposefully live a life of influence. Matt 5:13-16; 2 Tim 2:2
4. Overflow – Let your lifestyle reflect your devotion to God. Matt 5:17-32; Col 2:6-7
5. Predictable – Be consistent. Matt 5:33-48; Matt 18:21-22
6. Transparent – Don’t allow your devotion to become a performance. Matt 6:1-8; Matt 23:23-28
7. Dependence – Use prayer to develop intimacy with God. Matt 6:9-15; Ps 37:4
8. Discipline – Use fasting to demonstrate dependence upon and humility toward God. Matt 6:16-18; 1 Tim 4:7
9. Simplicity – Remove clutter from you commitment to Christ. Matt 6:19-24; Prov 3:5-6
10. Trust – Deal with worry before it destroys you. Matt 6:25-34; Phil 4:6-7
11. Compassion – Beware of a critical spirit. Matt 7:1-6; Gal 6:1-2
12. Patience – Graciously deal with difficult people. Matt 7:7-12; 1 Pet 4:7-9
13. Proactive – Be decisive, alert, and relational. Matt 7:13-23; Eph 5:15-16
For more information about each individual point, I invite you to listen to the individual message on each point on my church's website. The sermon series was entitled, "Living Inside Out."
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