I just started reading Matthew in my daily time with God and I am just blown away by the Sermon on the Mount. Not only is this the greatest message ever preached, by the greatest Messenger, but its content is completely radical and revolutionary.

You will notice a recurring theme throughout Christ’s sermon. Over and over again He says, “You have heard that it was said…” In other words, Christ is correcting some misunderstandings about God and the life of a true Christian. Jesus elevates the discussion well beyond the outward actions of an individual (murder and adultery) to the inward attitudes of the heart (hatred and lust).

What would our Christian life be like if we no longer depended on what we “heard” or what others “said;” and instead, depended solely upon what Christ had said. Wouldn’t there be a radical shift if Christians stopped comparing themselves to other Christians and instead compared themselves to the teachings and actions of Christ? What if churches no longer compared themselves to other churches but measured their effectiveness by the standards of Scripture?

I do believe there would be a fundamental change in our lives and in our ministries. And maybe that’s just what we need!