The Story

Read in Matthew 5:3-12.

Ideas for discussion

1. The Lord gave us the Ten Blessings as part of the Sermon on the Mount. Each blessing begins with the word “blessed” which means “happy.”
2. The blessings (also known as the beatitudes) suggest ways we can develop our perspective to find true happiness. True blessings are inner, spiritual rewards that come from living a truly charitable life. Try reading through the blessings and think about how each condition or attitude could help spiritually.
3. There are layers of meaning hidden within them that can help us understand the blessings more fully.
4. Being poor in spirit is having the humility to recognize the Lord as the source of truth and look to Him for guidance.
5. How are those who mourn blessed? The Lord can bless people who are sorry about what they have done wrong. If they are truly sorry, the Lord can help them turn away from the evils and comfort them.
6. The meek are people willing to be led by the Lord. They try to be kind but are not afraid to stand up for what is right.
7. What is meant by those who hunger and thirst for righteousness? They long for truth, and they want to bring goodness and truth together in their lives.
8. To be merciful is to want what is good for people, and to be willing to forgive others. But we also need to be careful not to facilitate wrongdoing, for this is not genuinely merciful.
9. How can we become pure in heart? We can ask the Lord to help us put away evil thoughts and actions. Evil spirits try to discourage or “persecute” us when we try to do better.
10. What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake? Evil spirits challenge us when we try to do better and try to discourage us from following the Lord.
11.  We can experience a sense of peace when we have confidence in the Lord, trusting Him to lead us and trying to do what is good.

Read more about the Ten Blessings

• “The Lord’s Ten Blessings” by Geoffrey S. Childs (ages 4-6)
  The Lord gave us the ten blessings to help us learn how to follow Him.
• “The Meaning of the Ten Blessings” by Geoffrey S. Childs (ages 7-14)
  When the Lord gave the Sermon on the Mount, He was teaching people the steps leading to a heavenly life. The words He spoke then can still teach us how to follow Him into eternal happiness.
• “Attitudes for Heavenly Happiness” (ages 15-17)
  This is a summary of the various states or attitudes that we need in order to receive heavenly happiness.
• “The Blessings of the Sermon on the Mount” by Peter M. Buss, Jr. (ages 18 and up)
  The message in the Sermon on the Mount, indeed, the whole of what the Lord was trying to accomplish with His life on earth, was to teach people how to figuratively follow Him to heaven, as they had literally followed Him up the mountain that day.
• The Kingdom of Heaven Is Within Us by Michael D. Gladish (ages 18 and up)
  When we think of blessings we do not usually think of sadness, difficulty or want. We usually think of happiness, peace and plenty. Indeed, the word blessing means happiness. Why, then, does the Lord seem to say the opposite in the Sermon on the Mount?

Projects and activities for all ages

• Echo the Ten Blessings (ages 3-7)
  Help children learn the Ten Blessings by repeating each line like an echo.
• Ten Blessings Book (ages 4-14)
  Offers suggestions for illustrating each of the ten blessings to make a book.
• Ways of Walking (ages 4-10)
  Think of different ways that we walk through life: happy, angry, sad, proud, etc. Dramatize each way of walking, then walk as if you are "walking with the Lord."
• Ten Blessings Vocabulary Discovery (ages 7-14)
  Explore the meaning of vocabulary used in the Ten Blessings to help you understand what the Lord is teaching us.
• Ten Blessings Poster (for all ages)
  The Ten Blessings from the Sermon on the Mount with a colorful border.
• Prayer for Children: The Ten Blessings (ages 7-14)
  “Make our hearts pure, our thoughts clean, and our spirits humble.”
• Matching Quotes with the Ten Blessings (ages 11-16)
  Match each of the Ten Blessings with a quotation from the Old Testament.
• Create in Me a Clean Heart (ages 11 and up)
  This activity can help us think about whether our thoughts and actions are creating a clean heart within us or not.
• Being Alerted by the Lord (ages 15 and up)
  Are you aware of times when the Lord may have been inspiring you to help someone?
• Humility Spiritual Task by David C. Roth
  It is important to cultivate humility and to be sorry when we have done wrong if we want the Lord’s gentle love to flow in and lead us. 
• Cleaning Up Our Act Spiritual Task by David C. Roth
  The sixth key to happiness is to work with the Lord to clean our hearts
• Be a Peacemaker Spiritual Task by David C. Roth
  Peace is a trust in the Lord that He is directing all things and leading us towards what is good.

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