Reading: Matthew 5:1-6:4

God has called us to a higher place, not just to higher things. Is it any wonder that He would take His followers up on a mountain? He was giving them a Moses experience, but these Words wouldn’t be carved into stone, they’d be formed in their hearts and attitudes.

Jesus was focused on who they were becoming, not just what they would be doing. Our identity isn’t formed by our performance, but by our Creator who forms us. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, and we must climb up higher, listen harder, and look closer and deeper.

This has also been called the “Be attitudes”, or who we could be once we saw things the way God does. To follow Christ means we’re in for a massive attitude adjustment. No one can fulfill the call of God without the preparation of God. There are four stages we go through in order to fulfill our calling from God.

• The Seed of Leadership
• The Beginning of Leadership
• The Tests of leadership
• The Fulfillment of Leadership

In the middle two stages we discover our strengths and weaknesses in order to reach our potential. But it’s only when we pass our tests that we’re ready to fulfill our calling as leaders.

The disciples were challenged by the conflicting inner values Jesus spoke of because they were centered on pleasing God instead of pleasing ourselves or others. The inward standards of being godly were far higher than the outward standards of the religious or worldly. We must not only do the right things, we must do them for the right reasons.

Jesus challenges them further to keep their marriage covenants, legally and in their hearts, be people of their word, love their enemies, be generous, and forgiving and go the extra mile in relationships. We must see and do it all as unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Ask Him to change your inner world so your outer world can change and glorify Him.