Why Everyone Must Know the Sermon on the Mount:

One of the greatest speeches ever given serves as a blueprint for the development of personal integrity, which is the starting point of creating an environment that provides equality and fair treatment of all.

Christ's indisputable classic sermon offers penetrating words and demands action from Christians and non-Christians to stamp out a malaise of poverty and injustice. When the two powerful chapters recorded in the Book of Matthew are truly comprehended, they will move the reader out of their comfort zone, and prompt them to start making small steps to make changes to help others wherever they find themselves.

Jesus Christ's first public preaching in the synagogue declared that His arrival brought hope to all: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18 NKJ).

To become an agent of change, we must begin with ourselves. In order to allow God's love to transform the hatred that we may feel toward someone, it involves unlearning the negative traits that were absorbed over the years; just like the blind man who begged Jesus to see, we too need to recognize that our own vision may be impaired, and we need to abandon the old biases and old way of doing things. Absorbing the learning is necessary until it becomes part of your character.

Unfortunately, the transforming process appears to be weak for some Christians, and some live in a manner that is not very different from their unbelieving neighbor; their lives are inconsistent with the righteous principles found in the sermon. We need to be different from our unbelieving neighbors and thus embody the salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). A life that is not transformed does not possess the saltiness that would differentiate it from others, nor is it able to be a light in the darkness. The sermon should demand a change in our behavior and challenge our convictions as to what is happening in the world around us. We need to be the "salt and light" in the world where there is much darkness to recognize that in order to inherit the eternal kingdom of heaven and enjoy a good life on earth, we must be concerned about providing a good life for others.

What would the world look like if we really did follow Jesus's teachings and combined our efforts and resources to help others? Jesus warns against those who are just listeners and who do not adhere to His teachings: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).