The Beatitudes – Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Today, we continue our study on the Beatitudes. If you are just now joining us, we are spending several weeks in Matthew Chapter 5 to learn about the inner characteristics and resulting blessings that Jesus shared with His disciples in His famous Sermon on the Mount. In the last three weeks, we covered the first three Beatitudes, which lay the foundation for how we should respond to Jesus. First, we should be “poor in spirit”; we should recognize our poverty by acknowledging our sin and our inability to pay for that spiritual debt. Second, we should mourn; we should be remorseful for committing those sins. Third, we should humble ourselves before God, allowing Him to change us. If we have done those things, we have a foundation laid in our relationship with God. 

When we have finally drawn a line in the sand and determined that we want God and what He wants, then we truly hunger and thirst for righteousness.

That leads us to the fourth Beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

To hunger and thirst for righteousness means a couple of things. First, it means to have a sincere, heartfelt desire for Jesus, who is our righteousness (see Jeremiah 23:6; Romans 5:19; Philippians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 1:30). When we wholeheartedly want Jesus, He fills us; He satisfies our spiritual longings with the presence of His Spirit inside of us.

To hunger and thirst for righteousness also means we desire to be more like God (who is righteous), to do what He wants us to do (not what we want), and to have Him rule in our lives. When we wholeheartedly want that, the Holy Spirit fills us and begins to transform us, enabling us to do what is right and pleasing to God.

So, what does that look like for us in our day-to-day lives? It means we intentionally choose to build our relationship with Jesus every day. It also means we put our feelings aside and instead adopt God’s perspective on everything in life: what we do, how we live, how we act toward people, what we say, what we think, how we treat our family, how we behave toward our spouse, how we raise our kids, how we handle our finances—everything. We put our feelings aside, and we don’t follow cultural advice such as “follow your heart” because, as the Bible explains in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else.” We cannot afford to follow our hearts and feelings if we want to please God and receive the blessings He has for us. We have to deny ourselves and choose God’s ways instead. They are better for everyone.

When we have finally drawn a line in the sand and determined that we want God and what He wants, when we put all our effort and energy into behaving and thinking how He wants us to, regardless of our own desires, then we truly hunger and thirst for righteousness.

That hunger eventually changes our hearts and minds. It transforms us. It turns us into people who are merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers (spoiler alert: we will see this in the next few Beatitudes). In essence, if you desire God and God’s way (to do things righteously) above all else, Jesus will fill you with His Holy Spirit and enable you to do those very things. He will change you and empower you unto righteousness. You will be filled.

As this fourth Beatitude says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Remember, we cannot do this on our own. We depend on Jesus, who is our righteousness. He leads us to this place of hunger and thirst, and then He fills and empowers us. 

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If you missed our series on the names of God, we invite you to visit the one on Jehovah Tsidkenu, a title for Jesus that means “The Lord Our Righteousness.” This name goes hand in hand with today’s topic.