Be Happy - By Mourning - Matthew 5:4

We all grieve or mourn at one point or another in our lifetimes. It could be over the death of a loved one or over a friend who moves away.  In Matthew 5:4 Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes “Blessed or happy are those who mourn for they will be comforted” 

There are a couple of ways to look at the word mourn in this verse.  One way could be the idea of mourning the loss of a loved one.  It is comforting to know at those times of loss that if our loved one is born again that they are with Jesus. 

Jesus could also mean that we should mourn the loss of family or friends because of our desire and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Our mourning could be over the fact that our family members do not see Jesus for who is really is and no longer accept us as part of the family.  Or maybe we mourn over the fact that they themselves do not accept the Lord and we may never see them in Heaven someday.

The word mourn in this verse in Matthew 5:4 could mean a lot of things, but I think the word mourn and it’s use here is more of a personal and spiritual nature.

Be Happy - By Mourning – Our Condition

I think Jesus had a deeper meaning for the word mourn than just mourning the loss of a loved one.  Jesus wanted us to look into our hearts and see our condition.  Are we truly following Him as we should or do we simply offer lip service?  Each day we should be mourning that we have failed to live as we should live, love as we should love and have faith as we should have faith. 

We should mourn that our walk with Christ is not as productive as it could be.  We should mourn that we do feel our relationship with Christ is closer than it was a year ago, or ten years ago.  We should mourn for our condition and realize that we need to change.

This is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5:4 the very idea of mourning our spiritual condition.   We must look at ourselves in the proverbial mirror of God’s word and truthfully say “ Am I where I should be in my walk with Christ”.  If not we must mourn the very fact that we are letting Christ down.  I am not talking about a superficial mourning period, but a wailing like you have never wailed before type of mourning period.  

I have grieved before and have gone through the period of wailing.  It is not easy but somewhere in your soul you do find comfort and understanding that things will get better.  Proverbs 14:10 says “ Each heart knows it’s own bitterness’’.   In Matthew 5:4 that is what Christ has in mind for us.  If we see our hearts bitterness or selfishness or whatever holds us back from living the life we could, we should mourn over our poor spiritual condition, see the need to change and know in our hearts that we must turn to Jesus for comfort.   This is the type of mourning that cleanses the soul and leaves you refreshed because you know that the worst is behind you and you have a life of comfort ahead of you on that day you see Jesus. 

Think about it, Christ saw our heart and it’s poor condition, mourned over it, sought to give us the comfort that only He could give.  To this end Jesus gave up everything for us on the Cross so that we might find comfort, should we not be horrified and sad when we do not give up everything for Him?  Mourn over your life and if there need to be changes made make them and be comforted in the knowledge that you are serving a God who loves you so much He gave up everything for you so you can be blessed (happy)..