We continue this week through the Beatitudes and come to Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

The main idea of this Beatitude is that when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, God will satisfy us with himself and establish order in our relationships. Not only relationships around us here, but to feel that desire to live a right relationship with God. Not just to desire it, but to live in a right relationship with God and, as a result, grow into a right relationship with ourselves, with others, and with the earth.

How do you act when you are hungry or thirsty? How does it change the way you treat others?

We all know what it’s like to be hungry and thirsty. Our body’s need—its inherent dissatisfaction—alerts us to the thing it needs to be satisfied with, whether food or drink. And that desire can change the way we act, for better or worse.

Just like our bodies hunger for food, Christians should hunger for righteousness, or to be rightly related to God. Jesus makes clear in Matthew 5:6, that our hunger and thirst will change us, but not for the worse. When he satisfies our longing, all our relationships will be made right.

¹Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.”
¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5: 1-12 ESV

As we watch the video let’s listen for a few key points.

• How are the Beatitudes “achieved”?
• What are the four relationships the cross heals in our lives?
• According to Matt, what is the pathway to satisfaction?

In the fourth Beatitude, Jesus uses the imagery of hunger and thirst to describe our yearnings for righteousness.

How have you related to or been taught on this verse?

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Matthew 5:6 ESV

It was stated that being hungry and thirsty for righteousness isn’t a feeling we can muster up. Self-motivation comes and goes quickly, and beating ourselves up for not having a feeling won’t lead us to satisfaction.

What have been the results, personally, as you’ve tried to manufacture a hunger and thirst for righteousness in the past?

Four major relationships were identified (Earth, Others, Ourselves, God) that we experience in life, each of which is affected by righteousness. If any of our relationships are going to flourish, we have to first figure out our relationship with God. This Beatitude encourages us to recognize the break in our relationship with God and to long for him to mend it.

Do you feel that you have to fix your relationship with God?

Based on what you know about the Bible and the video, what has God done to mend our relationship with him?

Do you feel that Jesus’s sacrifice is enough to forgive you, or do you think you have to also add some of your own good works to be right with God? Why?

We tend to understand righteousness as only right behavior, but, we are learning that moral conformity is a by-product of “right relatedness” to God.

What are some ways we get that backward, thinking right behavior produces a right relationship? In what ways do you think relating to God rightly will lead to right moral behavior?

God also made us social creatures—we were made to relate to one another. But our social relationships are not perfect. Even our closest relationships can be unhealthy.

Why do you think even the best relationships can fall apart? In what ways do you need God’s help mending relationships in your sphere of influence?

When we are rightly related to God, we realize that we are sinful and we are forgiven. We bring our brokenness into every relationship we are a part of and should be quick to mend relationships when our sin affects other people. We should also be quick to forgive, knowing that the person we are in conflict with is loved by God.

What makes it difficult to be quick to seek and give forgiveness? In what ways do you need God’s help to be rightly related to others?

The third relationship, our relationship with ourselves, is often the most difficult to figure out. We don’t think of ourselves as overly critical or lacking self-control; our behavior, broken as it is, feels normal.

How would you describe your relationship with yourself? What can you do to relate to yourself rightly? How can pursuing a deeper relationship with God help you relate to yourself in a healthier way?

The fourth and final relationship is our relationship to the earth. This relationship can feel abstract, but the video described it as our relationship to creation and culture. When we are rightly related to God, others, and ourself, it will change the way we relate to our workplace, our neighborhood, and society at large. Wherever God has placed us, we should seek to create a world where people flourish.

What would it look like for your small group to make your community a better place?

The video concluded with the thought, “dissatisfaction is the pathway to satisfaction.”

To what extent are you currently experiencing dissatisfaction in your relationships? How could that dissatisfaction, that yearning, be a hunger or thirst for righteousness?

What one thing can you begin doing to put yourself on the pathway toward satisfaction in God?

There exists in each of us a deep restlessness—a hunger, as Jesus says—that won’t be calmed or satisfied until our relationship with God is made right. And as long as we try to skirt around our dissatisfaction, suppress it, or fill it with other things, our hunger and thirst will remain.

Therefore, the pathway to satisfaction runs right through dissatisfaction. Only those who, by God’s grace, come awake to our need to have our relationship with God restored—those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—will be filled. Whenever we are dissatisfied, seek God and his presence. Because there, and there alone, will we be satisfied.