Matthew 5-6 - A lot of what he says is
simply emphasizing the fact that God doesn't
look on the outwardly appearance, He looks on
the heart. If you're doing everything right,
but you're dragging your feet at the same
time, it's not going to profit you
anything. If you're choosing the right so that
everyone else will see you and see what an
amazing person you are, you won't be rewarded
for that. Lot's wife was obedient to the
commandment to physically leave
Sodom. However, she kept Sodom in her heart,
which is why she looked back and turned to a
pillar of salt.
Matthew 5:29-30 - One great example of
this is the Anti-Nephi-Lehis (see Alma
24:17-18). They buried their only form of
protection because they didn't want to shed
blood. They saw that it was more important
that they die on earth so that they could
attain the Kingdom of God in heaven than that
they retain their life here on earth, then be
"cast into hell" in the eternities. And they
put their weapons of war out of reach. It
would be extremely difficult for them to
retrieve their weapons and return to their old
ways. Sometimes, if we need to get rid of
something in our life, the best way to do it
is to get as far away as possible from that
thing. If we keep a temptation close and
accessible, we are more likely to fall back
into it. Sometimes distancing ourselves from
the temptation comes with other
difficulties. But it is more important that we
deal with those difficulties than that we fall
back into temptation.
Matthew 5:33-37 - In the Old Testament,
oaths are very important. Whenever one swears
by the name of God or makes some other oath,
that oath is binding. However, it seems that
by the time of Jesus, people had begun to take
oaths casually, taking out the meaning behind
the oath. It's similar to today, when, for
example, someone says, "Well I'll be damned if
I don't have an answer to your question." In
the Old Testament, this would have been an
oath stating that if the person didn't have an
answer to the question, they would be
damned. However, nowadays, it's just a
declaration of surprise. It has very little
meaning. Thus, in order to avoid taking oaths
casually, Christ told his disciples to simply
say "Yea, yea; Nay, nay."
Matthew 7:1-5 - "He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone" (John
8:7). We shouldn't be condemning others in our
own mind, while we have the same problem or an
even bigger problem. God is the sole person to
determine whether someone deserves forgiveness
or not.
Matthew 7:16-20 - What fruits am I
producing?
Working hard at work
Homework getting in on time
Am I spending enough time with friends to
show them the value of our relationship?
Am I staying in contact with my family?
Am I magnifying my calling?
How has faith, repentance, and the Atonement
changed my life recently?
Matthew 7:28-29 - Missionaries are given
the authority to share the gospel by a prophet
of God, sometimes, their doctrines "astonish"
the people that they teach.
