Who does not want to have a good house? It is natural that we often strive to have the best possible place to live, our home in the natural, is the place where we rest, share with friends, family and raise our children, that is why we not only look for it to be a nice and comfortable site, we also want it to be a safe site.
For this reason, it is not surprising that God, as a good teacher, used the analogy of a house in the Bible to teach us the enormous importance of certain principles of life. This is how we find the parable of the two foundations in the Gospel of Matthew, where it is urges the reader of the Bible to build on a solid foundation the most important house, that of his own life…
Build life on a firm foundation…
After doing a long preaching during the sermon on Mount Jesus ends with these words:
“Whoever, then, who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a prudent man, who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and beat against that house; and it did not fall, because it was founded on the rock.
But whoever hears these words from me and does not do them, I will compare him to a foolish man, who built his house on the sand; and the rain came down, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house; and he fell, and his ruin was great.” Matthew 7:24-27
Building our house on the rock, in this context, implies the need to dig deep into the ground, in order to lay a deep, firm and resistant foundation, affirming the columns of our life on the rock as also indicated by Luke 8:48, from so that this calamity is coming not to fall, but to be sustained.
Now, if in this analogy the rock is the teachings of Jesus and the house is our life, it is good to meditate on which of these teachings he was referring to, what are the things that we must diligently internalize and practice with fervor so that when the day of affliction and trial we may overcome it victoriously.
In this order of ideas, we will list 7 key aspects or foundations of the teachings of Jesus, which, although they are not all that we find in the sermon on the mount, we do consider to be the most essential if we prudently want to build a firm life on the rock of the God’s word.
1. Do not harbor anger in the heart.
In Matthew chapter 5 verses 21 to 26 it is clearly seen that the requirements that Jesus establishes regarding anger are much higher than the standards of the law in the old testament, he says textually:
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be guilty of judgment; and whoever says: Fool, to his brother, shall be guilty before the council; and whoever says to him: Foolish, will be exposed to hell of fire. Matthew 5:22
In the complete passage we see Jesus saying if when bringing your offering to the altar you remember that your brother has something against you, “go and be reconciled with your brother first” so that your offering is accepted, it is clear that according to Jesus an important foundation or principle it is that our hearts have peace with our neighbor to the greatest extent possible, so much so that it prioritizes reconciling with him before bringing our offering to God.
However, we also find passages that show that we can get angry as is natural to us as humans, as long as that anger does not lead us to sin or remain foolishly angry for long…
About this Paul speaks as follows in Ephesians 4:26-27:
“Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Don’t give place to the devil.”
2. Love… even the enemy.
This is perhaps one of the most revolutionary and radical aspects of Jesus’ message in the gospels, and without a doubt something that Jesus himself managed to teach by example, although it is something that can be tremendously difficult, it is not impossible, let’s remember the example of who dying on the cross said the phrase, “forgive them because they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
The law established that you love your neighbor and hate your enemy (Leviticus 19:18) but Jesus again raises the standards of what is required by God to humanly irrational levels, and teaches his disciples that it is necessary for them to have an attitude of meekness, even before those who seek their evil.
“But I say to you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and who makes it rain on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 4:44-45
Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48
3. Do not pray, always pray.
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes two important references to prayer, in the first, that when he institutes the Our Father as a prayer model, before which, he begins with the following argument, “when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners” and later he clarifies:
“And when praying, do not use vain repetitions, like the Gentiles, who think that they will be heard for their many words” Matthew 6:7.
Before God, the appearance or style of our prayers is not important, but rather the sincerity, frankness and respect of them… He already knows what we need and knows perfectly well everything we experience in great detail, however to him You are interested in our version of things.
God looks beyond our words and actions, he sees our motives and intentions, therefore it is impossible to deceive him and it is extremely important to be radically sincere and honest with him.
4. Avoid eagerness and anxiety.
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ?” Matthew 6:25
It is a fact that there are countless things that can cause us eagerness and anxiety, in particular the things to which Jesus refers, food and clothing, are essential needs of every human being, however the Lord exhorts us to trust these aspects of our life to God, who will take care of us if we put his will and plans first…
It is not about forgetting these aspects completely, it is about not “worrying” about them… regarding this Jesus says during the sermon on the mount:
“Do not worry, then, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? Because the Gentiles seek all these things; but your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33
Living a life free of worries and anxieties is therefore a firm foundation to build a life based on the teachings of our God.
5. Avoid judging others lightly.
Jesus also establishes certain strict parameters regarding judging others, in the sermon on the mount Jesus is radical when arguing: “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged” since in the same way that we judge we will also be judged, the Lord He calls us not to do so if we do not possess the necessary moral solvency to withstand our own judgment or scrutiny (Matthew 7:1-2).
In this order of ideas he tells us:
“And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, and do not notice the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother: Let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the beam is in your eye? !!Hypocrite! first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5.
So before criticizing someone’s attitudes or life, according to Jesus it is wise to analyze your own life, and make sure that you are a true example in what you think about… avoid judging others lightly, it is therefore another necessary foundation when we build the house of our own life.
6. Take care what you see.
“The lamp of the body is the eye, so if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be in darkness. So, if the light that is in you is darkness, how many will not be the same darkness?” Matthew 6:22-23
In the current language translation of this portion of the Bible it says: “the eyes are the reflection of character, so your goodness or badness is reflected in your look” and certainly, what you look at is what for good or for good. To bad it has captured your attention.
Taking care of what we see, covet and value is decisive, what becomes the object of our desire and priority in our eyes, is something that conditions us and can bring both light (blessing) and darkness (curse). ) to our life.
It is therefore essential that when building the foundations of our life we value the right things, and place our eyes on them, so when calamity knocks on our door, we will find a life resistant to adversity.
7. Believe in facts not words.
In Proverbs 20:6 Solomon comments, “many men proclaim each his own goodness, but a real man who will find it” It is a fact that the world is full of people who do not seek the good of their neighbor, nor do they please God, and that if we are not careful they can deceive us with their “appearance of godliness” (2 Timothy 3:5) harm us and benefit from us at the same time.
Jesus was perfectly aware of this reality, that is why he instructs us to see beyond the words of people and their appearance, so that we look more closely and carefully at the result of their actions and conduct in this order of ideas. He says:
“Beware of lying prophets, who say they speak from God! They appear before you as harmless as a sheep, but in reality they are as dangerous as a ferocious wolf. You will be able to recognize them, because they do nothing good. They are like thorns, which only hurt you. The good tree only produces good fruit and the bad tree only produces bad fruit.” Matthew 7:15-17 TLA.
And also in Luke 6:45 in the Current Language Translation version of the Bible the Lord says:
“Good people always do good, because good lives in their hearts. Bad people always do evil, because evil is in their hearts. The words that come out of your mouth show what is in your heart.”
A house is more than walls and roof…
Although these are not all the things that Jesus spoke about during the sermon on the mount, if we can consider them essential and indispensable principles to build the house of our life on the rock, that is to say “some” firm foundations, so that when the coming difficult days we have an unshakable character, that rooted on the rock is able to resist the onslaught of adverse circumstances.
I hope this article has been a blessing to your life.
I recommend you also read: The 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit, what are they and what do they mean?