In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus first said to his disciples, "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Since the scribes and Pharisees were known to be hypocrites, it seemed then that getting into the kingdom of heaven shouldn't be too hard. Then Jesus said things that made me think otherwise, among which were statements such as "I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment" and "Whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna." To play it safe, of course, we can strive to be as perfect as possible, which is what the Father wishes anyway.
In general, there are three prevalent attitudes out there. (1) Some just do not believe in Christ at their own risk. (2) Some believe, but not really follow all his teachings. For example, when it comes to forgiving others, they would say "I can't do it" and not even try to do it. These are closed-minded people. (3) And there are those who are open-minded and, despite being weak, ask God to help them follow him in all his teachings. It is clear which one of these attitudes pleases the Lord the most.
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