(5:1-10) These verses exemplify why God is such a beautiful father. He loves to comfort and he especially loves people who love to comfort others. People with a lot of compassion have a difficult time handling the abundance of grief in the world. Often the very compassionate and humble are the doormat of others, neglected or used. Kind people have a natural tendency to give and give to others everything they have until there's nothing left (emotionally and otherwise). That selfless trait makes them vulnerable and sometimes a bit downtrodden. But if you can identify with those feelings, I assure that even if you feel like you're losing the race on Earth, you've already crossed the finish line in Heaven.
God loves the meek because they have no pride or greed - kindness is their highest valued possession and they share it with everyone. So god inserts these lovely, blessed verses to remind you of that. What the world views as success and achievement is opposite of what God labels success and achieve. Having nothing is having everything if you've given it to others.
(5:11-12) All of the prophets in the Bible had a tumultuous journey. The prophets were obviously very strong and faithful people and yet some of them even struggled against the evil of the world. God rewards those who are mocked, threatened and hurt for His sake because you are not just defending God, you are defending the values he teaches. Standing against wicked, even if you're nervous or scared, is standing for kindness, patience and love. God blesses you not because you blindly follow Him but because you actively work in the service of protected good.
(5:13) I think of this salt metaphor in this way: Salt = Goodness. You are the goodness of the world, you are how goodness is born and spread and maintained. If you are not good (if you are salt without flavor) what is your purpose? It is useless to be a person without goodness.
(5:14-16) Another metaphor using light. Our purpose is to teach and exhibit peace and happiness. When we behave in such ways, we are a light... we drive out darkness. If we keep our goodness inside, to ourselves, or do not share it with the world (put it under a basket), again, we lose our purpose.
God says to let your light shine before men because they best and most effective way to bring another person into the light is by your actions. You can speak and sing until your voice runs out without it having an effect on another but when you live by example, people are more likely to notice your triumphs and happiness despite the always present and inevitable challenges of life. You as a living example, is proof to them that a person can be optimistic and patient amid trouble.
(5:17) God makes sure that you know Jesus did not arrive to change the plan but to reinforce it. Everything He is teaching you in the New Testament had already been taught in the old.
(5:18) God's mission is important and will be fulfilled totally. You don't have to worry about the world ending because all of this will come true, every line, and we haven't completed the plan yet.
(5:19) If you teach or exemplify a bad way of life you will be stopped. If you teach and exemplify goodness... you will eternally prevail.
(5:20) You need to be better than the evil people. Choose their side and poof! you're gone.
(2:21-26) God takes it a step further in these two verses. He basically says, "Maybe before you thought you were a good person by not murdering others... but really that only makes you tolerable. Be even greater than that." Do not be constantly angry with people. If you are picking fights and tattling on people falsely for you gain... it will catch up to you, you will pay it all back.
(5:27-28) Have a pure heart. Don't do evil things but teach yourself not to think them as well (if you have that predilection) bad thoughts encourage you to make bad decisions.
(5:29-30) This is a metaphor - do not cut any physical part of yourself off. If a trait of yours is causing you to be cruel and unjust to others, stifle it. If the work of your hands is profiting you monetarily but is gained in a corrupt way, choose to be poor rather than successful in such a way. Readjust your perceptions, be more open and inquisitive about things that challenge or frustrate you... it's more difficult to go against your immediate, perhaps long-founded thoughts but changing the lens on your perception (eye) can enlighten you to be a better person. You might start to understand a frustrating situation better once you examine the complexity of it.
Again: I do not believe in hell. Fire is a metaphor for fully ridding of something.
(5:31-32) Back in the day, I mean way... way...back, a man provided for a woman. Divorcing her meant leaving her and your children to starve. Divorce was abandonment and a man would have to be quite evil to do such a thing. God is always all for mending relationships, he prefers that we all adjust ourselves to get along with others. Today (in many places), it is rare and unlikely that a couple decide not to divorce if they meet controversy in their relationship - but splitting up no longer, necessarily, leads to the detriment of the spouse. Each member of the relationship still has food and shelter... they aren't left to die. I do not consider divorce a sin but rather treating people inhumanely as a sin. Divorce can be rather civilized in this day and age.
(5:33-37) Be honest and stand by your word. If you say you are going to do something - do it, without fail or wavering. Be a man/woman of your word to establish trust in others. In 2015, a lot of people have or have had a lawyer at some point. Everything is contractual, written, binding. Nobody stands by their word and so trust no longer exists. You have to hold people to their word by threats and punishments and repercussions. Don't be the kind of person who has to say, "I swear on my life!" As God reminds you, everything is His, nothing is yours, not even your own body, to wager. If you mean what you say, just say it and let it be the truth.
(5:38-42) When someone wrongs you, do not wrong them back. Do you have to cherish and coddle evil-doers? No, but you should not stoop to their level. Continue be innocent and kind. If someone is every sincerely apologetic, give them more of yourself. Do you wish to be forgiven when you realize a mistake? Do not give your coat a way to a jerk who won't appreciate it but don't taunt him either for not having one. If he really is sorry and then asks you for something (probably more than a coat) be willing to give it. But make sure you are dealing with an honest person.
(5:43-47) These are some of my favorite, most instructive verses of the Bible. If you are only kind and forgiving of your friends... what more do you do than the evil do with their friends? It is easy to be kind to kind people, you don't get too many points for that. What is awesome and beautiful to God is when you are strong enough, selfless enough, to be kind when it is difficult. Evil-doers do not have that ability. They care only about themselves and their cohorts.
At this time the tax-collections kind of ran the show. And they were corrupt. So God says, don't even the corrupt treat their friends well? Be bigger than just accepting of what is comfortable to you.
(5:48) Strive for perfection. It is impossible for a human to be perfect here on Earth but aiming for anything lower than perfection is laziness and does not fully promote good.
At this time the tax-collections kind of ran the show. And they were corrupt. So God says, don't even the corrupt treat their friends well? Be bigger than just accepting of what is comfortable to you.
(5:48) Strive for perfection. It is impossible for a human to be perfect here on Earth but aiming for anything lower than perfection is laziness and does not fully promote good.
