Do you have a good attitude? Do you know how to choose a good attitude? Well, God knows about our attitude, and He thinks they are very important. So important, that Jesus once gave a very big speech to a crowd to teach them about having the kind of attitude that pleases God. Pleasing God makes us blessed, or joyful. Jesus took His disciples up on a hillside and taught them about the eight kinds of attitudes that please God. We call these the beatitudes.

One day Jesus was surrounded by a giant crowd. So, he went up on the side of a mountain so they could see and hear Him better. His disciples sat down at His feet and listened as He taught them.

“God blesses those people who depend only on Him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven!”

Jesus wants us to know we need Him and are lost without Him. When we do that, the Bible says we become God’s children, citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

“God blesses the people who are sad. They will be comforted!”

Our sins make God sad. Do they make you sad? It might sound strange that God wants us to be sad. But this is how we show we are truly sorry for hurting Him. Even though our sin separates us from God, He wants us to be close to Him. That’s why He’s so willing to forgive us. He’s just waiting for us to come running to Him whenever we know we’ve done something wrong. When we’re sad for our sins, God doesn’t get angry with or say, “I told you so!” He comforts us.

“God blesses the humble people. The earth will belong to them!”

To be humble means to stop putting ourselves before others; to stop demanding our way. And it means that we accept bad situations and make the best of them. When we are humble and begin to take our eyes off of ourselves, we start enjoying everyone and everything around us. That’s when we get the most out of life. And, we look forward to being with Jesus in the life to come. To be truly happy we must become humble and stop trying to be the center of attention.

“God blesses the people who want to obey Him more than they want to eat or drink. They will get what they want!”

They way your stomach hungers for food or water is the way your soul might hunger for things like fame, money, popularity, or power. Just like eating a whole pizza won’t keep you full forever, no matter how much money or popularity you have, it will never be enough to satisfy you. The only thing that can satisfy your inner hunger and thirst is following God.

“God blesses the merciful people. They will be shown mercy back!”

People who are merciful forgive others and show them kindness even if they are wrong. They don’t try to get “pay back” because they remember how God has shown mercy to them.

“God blesses the people with pure hearts. They will see him!”

God doesn’t want us to have bad thoughts about people or to think up ways to be mean to others. He wants us to have clean hearts. When your heart is pure, you can come into His presence in prayer, and you will be able to ‘see’ God working in your everyday life.

“God blesses the people who make peace. They will be called His children!”

God wants us to love others. He wants us to help others get along and avoid fights. When you look for ways to bring peace to those around you, they can see that there is something different about you. They can tell that you are a child of God.

“God blesses the people who are treated badly for doing the right thing. They belong to the kingdom of heaven. God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell lies about you because of Me. Be happy about it because you will be rewarded when you get to heaven. Don’t forget that people did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.”

“God wants you to add flavor to the lives of others, like salt does,” Jesus continued.

He wants you to light up the lives of others, like a lighthouse on top of a hill. But if you have no flavor or light in your lives, what good are you doing? You need to have God’s joy and be living your lives according to His teachings to share about Him with others. If you have a bad attitude toward life, you won’t be ready to share about God with other people.

“He wants you to light up the lives of others, like a lighthouse on top of a hill. But if you have no flavor or light in your lives, what good are you doing?”

You need to have God’s joy and be living your lives according to His teachings to share about Him with others. If you have a bad attitude toward life, you won’t be ready to share about God with other people.”

“And don’t worry about your life,” Jesus told them at the end. “Don’t stress over having something to eat, drink, or wear. Life is more than food and clothing. Just look at the birds in the sky! They don’t farm. They don’t have storage barns. But your Father in heaven takes care of them. Now, aren’t you worth more than birds? Worrying won’t make you live a single day longer!”

He also told them, “Don’t worry about clothes! Just look how the wild lilies grow in the field. They don’t have to sew their clothes. But they still look more beautiful than even the richest kings.”

The crowds smiled as they thought about Jesus’ analogies. They felt closer to God and knew that if they focused on having a good attitude, they could trust God to be in charge of the rest.