Fasting and prayer are not easy. That’s why the hypocrites loved to show them off. But this passage shows us that this whole principle of “your best life later” applies to the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting. We embrace the difficulty, trusting in our Father's reward in the future.
The level of your obedience to Jesus' teaching is the level to which you believe His promises concerning rewards. “Trust and obey” always go together. If we trust His promises, we will be able to obey in secret. If we don’t believe, then we’ll go around begging for others to notice us.
Loving our enemies is one of the most God-like things we can do.
"Turning the other cheek" and "going the second mile" are great ideas. But Jesus doesn't actually expect us to do them in real life... does He?
Why don't disciples of Jesus swear oaths? Because we don't need to.
We must pay very careful attention to what Jesus is saying in this passage. He is not simply saying that lust is as bad as adultery. What he says is more subtle, and more devastating, than that.
Disciples of Jesus take anger—and the importance of reconciliation—dead seriously.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Why would Jesus say this, and what does it mean?
Which would you rather have: the world's approval now, or God's approval forever? Because you can't have both.
Christ's disciples are meek, merciful and makers of peace, and they've been promised an incredible future. This is the good life.