Beatitudes and Platitudes

     Beatitudes are blessedness - rewards from God for bliss. Platitudes are being insipidness, which is devoid of spirituality or character (Meriam-Webster Dictionary; paraphrased). Jesus enumerated the beatitudes- Blessed are:

1. the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
2. those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
3. the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4. those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
5. the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
6. the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7. the peacemakers , for they shall be called children of God.
8. the persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

     Some of those beatitudes (three) are tribulation, and for enduring those tribulations, Christians will be blessed. The remaining beatitudes (five) are rewards for righteous attitudes. For each of the attitudes, God will show gratitude. There are eight in number. If we would bless God as He has blessed us, there would be merely two beatitudes for Him:

1. Blessed is God because He is the only God who blesses.
2. Blessed is God because He died for us all!

     My point is that God blesses us in so many ways, perhaps enumerable, and all we need to do is bless Him for blessing us by dying for us. Blessing God is gratitude, and those who have righteous attitudes bless God. What is it, if a person professes Jesus but lacks gratitude? Theirs are platitudes. They have little gratitude for God, and fail to love Him. Failing to be grateful to God for his gift of grace is having a platitude. Thus, Commandment Three is a sin of platitudeness - taking Jesus's death as a minor thing.  Platitudes result in a Plato-tonic love for Jesus - platonic. Of course, I'm not referring even to non-sexual love, but ungratefulness for the spiritual romance we are to have for Christ.
    We Christians, in unity, are the "bride" and Jesus is the "Bridegroom". As mates, we are to have a "romantic" type of relationship, not with any sexual implications, but the extreme friendship and admiration lovers should have for each other! Jesus loves us; he doesn't want unrequited love; he wants us to love him back! Platonic "Christians" are those who fail to love Jesus back. With those who fail to love him,  his love is unrequited - not reciprocated like he loves us.
     How does God loves us? That he gave His only Son in our place. How much should we love Him back? To be willing to do what God did. He gave Himself. God died for us as he gave up His own Flesh. We are to love Him that much as well or else our love is a platitudinal. Our "reasonable service is to present our bodies as a living sacrfice" (Rom 12:1). Although God resurrected Himself, His death was a dying sacrifice. He made our sacrifice so much easier, we are only to give up our fleshly desires, but God died in the entirety of His flesh. Jesus - God's Flesh - died for us!
    In Shakespearean fashion, with Jesus as our "Romeo", God wants us "Juliets" to die with him; not at the same time, but with the same love and devotion. That devotion fulfills the love God expects from his Bride.
    We have all seen faux marriages: The bride pledges herself to the Groom, then when a paramour comes along, she lusts for the other, and may even fornicate. Regeneration (born again) is the marriage between the brides and the Bridegroom - repentant sinners and Jesus. He takes the harlot as his wife because she promises to be faithful and serve him only. Soon afterward, she fornicates emotionally or even spiritually with other gods, most often with self-abuse. With that sin, the marriage becomes spiritually platonic just as marriages become without romance. The attitude of the bride - the Church - is platitudinal.
     There are repercussions for platonic marriages to Christ - those without admiration for and with unwillingness to serve the Husband. They are the platitudes: Not blessed or cursed are:

1. those with a superior spirit, for they will not be in the kingdom of God.
2. those who cannot mourn for the lost, for neither shall they find comfort.
3. the arrogant, for their inheritance is nothing.
4. those who are gluttons for unrighteous pleasures, for their soul will become emptied.
5. the unmerciful, for God will not show them mercy.
6. those with impure attitudes, for they will not see God who bestows beatitudes.
7. those who bully and provoke, for they shall be called children of the Devil
8. those who are rewarded for unrighteousness, for their reward is already obtained.

     Christians are to make their marriage to Christ sacrosanct. They must remain faithful and true to God to obtain mercy. The marriage contract is one of love and is written on stone for perpetuity. God requires devotion and fidelity. When that faith is received, He is no longer a jealous God; He wants and demands that we love others just as we love ourselves because he trusts us. Are you worthy of His trust?