Matthew 6:26 says, Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?  Jesus tells us to look at the birds of the air.  Birds don't sow, or reap or gather crops into barns, or storage.  Jesus tells us that the heavenly Father feeds them.  Some people would say the is just mother nature that does this, but it we are followers of Christ, then we now that it is much more than just a random act.  We have to acknowledge that God sustains the universe that He created.  Then, Jesus asks if we are not better than the birds.  If God provides food for the birds, then we should know that He will do the same for us.  I don't believe that this means that we are to just sit back and do nothing, but that we are to have faith that if we are doing God's will, then we don't have to worry about food or any other material thing.  God will provide for our needs if we put Him first.  Verse twenty-seven asks, Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  I believe that the emphasis here is that God creates our bodies to be a certain size, and we cannot make ourselves grow any taller than we are created to be.  We may be able to make ourselves larger, or even to stunt our growth from what it would be, but we cannot make ourselves taller.  Just like spending time or thought to make ourselves taller is a waste, so is worrying about what we will eat or wear.  Verse twenty-eight asks, And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  As I just stated, we are not to worry about our raiment, or clothing.  Jesus tells us to consider the lilies of the field.  Like the birds, they do not labor and toil, nor do they spin cloth to array themselves in.  Verse twenty-nine declares, And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Jesus tells us that Solomon in all his glory, dressed in his finest, was not arrayed as beautifully as the lilies.  Verse thirty says, Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Jesus asks if God can provide even for the grass of the field, which is here one day and gone the next, then why do we as God's people lack the faith to rely on God to meet our needs.  Verse thirty-one says, Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  I believe that this means that we are not to be worried about these things, but are to live in the faith that God will provide them.  Verse thirty-two states, (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  Jesus tells us that the Gentiles, those who were not God's people, sought after these things, or we might say put there emphasis on material things.  Though we may have been Gentiles in the days of Jesus, through faith in Christ as Savior and Lord we are now a part of God's family.  As such, Jesus tells us that the heavenly Father knows our needs, even before we ask.  Verse thirty-three states, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Jesus tells us to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first.  This means we are to put God above everything else.  When we do, God will meet all our physical or material needs.  Verse thirty-four states, Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.  We might say that this is a fiscally irresponsible way to live, but Jesus tells us to not worry about these material things but to rely on God to provide for our needs.  We never know what day will be our last, so we are not to worry about the evils of tomorrow, but are to simply live by faith each day.

Matthew 6:22 says, The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.   We have heard it said that the eye is the light of the soul, but Jesus tells us that at least it is the light of the body.  Coming just after the discussion of treasures, I believe that we can say that as Christians that our focus, our single vision, must be on the things of God.  If we begin to focus on material things instead of spiritual things our whole body is affected.  Verse twenty-three warns, But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  Though physically, if we are blind we stumble around in darkness and miss the beauty of the world, it is even worse when we stumble in spiritual blindness.  We must keep our eyes set on Jesus and not on the things of the world.  Verse twenty-four declares, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  I don't believe that this can be stated much more clearly.  We cannot serve two masters, which I believe would be material things and spiritual things.  We must never allow material things, whether possessions or people, to come between God and us.  Either God is the Lord of our whole life, or we are serving another master.  We can put no ifs, ands, or buts on following God.  Verse twenty-five says, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  This once again is a very clear statement.  We might say that it is irresponsible to live this way, but Jesus tells us also that when we follow Him that the heavenly Father will meet our needs.  Jesus tells us that we are more than simply what we eat or drink if we are His followers.

Matthew 6:16 says, Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  Having taught us how to give and how to pray, Jesus now teaches us the correct way to fast.  Since the statement is when we fast, then we can assume that this means we are to fast for spiritual reasons.  I must confess that I never have done this.  My fasting is generally from the time I go to bed until shortly after I get up.  When Jesus speaks of fasting it is fasting done for spiritual purposes, and not for physical ones.  Jesus tells us that we are not to fast to call attention to ourselves as the hypocrites do.  Verse seventeen says, But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;  Jesus tells us that when we fast that we are to go about life normally, in the way that we look and act.  I believe that what Jesus tells us continually is that the way we live and worship should bring glory to God, and never call attention to our own righteousness.  We are never made righteous by our actions, but can only be made righteous through our faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse eighteen states,  That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.  We are not to fast for people to notice us, but so they won't.  It may be that they will see us not eating, but even then we are not to call attention to it.  I believe that this is true of any real worship.  We worship so that God will be glorified and we will be edified, and not that we will be praised by people.  When we do, then God will reward us openly.  Even when we proclaim God openly, we are to do it for His glory and not so that we will be praised.  Verse nineteen says, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  I am not sure that God ever expects us to keep all that He blesses us with materially for our own purposes.  Treasures laid up on earth can be destroyed or stolen, and even if they aren't, they will be left behind when Jesus comes again.  Verse twenty advises, But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  We lay up treasures in heaven by being obedient to God's will.  Whatever treasures we receive in heaven will be given to us by God and will not be something that we attained by our own ability.  They will still be to be used for God's glory and they will be everlasting. Verse twenty-one declares, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  If we value the things of this world more than following the will of God, then that is what we will devote our time and energy to.  The opposite is also true.  As followers of Christ, we must devote our time and energy into serving God first and foremost.

Matthew 6:5 says, And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  Jesus teaches us that just as there is a correct way to give, so there is a correct way to pray.  This verse tells us that when we pray we are not to pray in such a way as to bring attention to ourselves instead of to God.  I don't believe that Jesus is saying that we should never pray in public, but when we do this we should never have people focused on us instead of God.  If we pray simply to call attention to ourselves, we have our reward already.  Verse six states, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  Jesus tells us that when we pray we are to go into our closet and do so in secret.  Then, God will see us and openly reward us.  Prayer is first and foremost a communication between a person and God.  Verse seven declares, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  I don't believe that this is as much about whether we say the same words in prayer as it is about the words having no meaning when we say them.  Jesus also tells us that we do not have to go on and on in prayer.  We may hear someone pray and tell them that it was a beautiful prayer, but if the prayer had no real meaning to the person praying, then it means nothing to God.  Verse eight says, Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.  We do not need to pray to call attention to ourselves, nor do we need to get God's attention.  God already knows our needs and simply expects us to acknowledge to Him that He is the One Who can meet our needs.  Verse nine says, After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  This is the beginning of what is normally called the Lord's prayer, but I believe should more accurately be called the Lord's model prayer.  I believe that Jesus' prayer in the garden and on the cross, for example, are more His prayers.  Still, the first thing that Jesus tells us is that our prayers should be directed to the heavenly Father.  We must be sincere in our acknowledgement of Who God is.  As followers of Christ, He is our heavenly Father.  Verse ten says, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Jesus tells us that after we acknowledge God as our heavenly Father, then we are to pray, not for what we may want, but that God's will is done here on earth.  God is always at work in the world through His followers, if His followers are doing His will.  Verse eleven states, Give us this day our daily bread.  Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily needs to be met, for our daily bread.  We are not told to pray for all our wants, but for our own daily bread.  Verse twelve says, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  We have been forgiven our debt to God through our faith in Christ, and we are to forgive those who are in debt to us because we have been forgiven.  Verse thirteen states, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.  Since God never leads us into temptation, I believe that this means keep us from being led into temptation.  If we remember that it is God's kingdom, sustained by God's power, and that we are to do everything for God's glory, then we will never be led into temptation.  Verse fourteen declares, For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  Jesus expands on the nature of forgiveness.  If we don't forgive those who have somehow harmed us, then why should we expect God to forgive us?  We have been forever forgiven for our trespasses against God.  Verse fifteen further declares, But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  If we will not forgive others for their trespasses against us, then God will not forgive our trespasses against Him.  I do not believe that this means that we cannot be saved without forgiving others, but that once we are saved that we are to be as forgiving in our relationship to God as He is in His relationship to us.

Matthew 6:1 says, Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.   We are not to give to God simply so others might make note of or brag about our giving.  If we do give simply so others might notice us, then we have our reward already, and that is the praise of men.  Whatever we do for God should be for His glory and not our own.  Verse two states, Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  As always, I believe this goes to our attitude and intention.  It is not always possible to keep our giving to God from going unnoticed, but we are not to be the ones to call attention to it.  As a matter of fact, we should attempt to ensure that it goes unnoticed by other people.  Whatever we do for God should be done to bring honor to Him and not attention to ourselves.  Verse three states, But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:  I believe that this means that we are to not even acknowledge to ourselves what we give to God so that we can secretly praise ourselves.  I know that it is impossible to not know what we give to God, but we should give with the attitude that even we ourselves do not acknowledge what we have given.  We need to remember that whatever we give is already God's to begin with.  Verse four says, That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.  We may want the church to keep a record of what we give, and the church really needs to keep a record of what is given for the sake of accountability, but this should never be done so that one person can be praised and another looked down on.  The person giving should never draw attention to how much he or she has given or is giving.  We are to give, as we are to live, so that God receives the glory.

Matthew 5:38 says, Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  These were really limits on what a person could demand if they had been harmed.  If someone lost an eye or a tooth, that person could not claim a right to kill the other person, or even harm that person more than someone had been harmed himself.  We often view it as a command to claim our right to be demand that the someone who has harmed us pay, but this really isn't the case.  Verse thirty-nine declares, But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.  Jesus said that we are to turn the other cheek if we are slapped, which means that we are not to demand that the one who struck us suffers even more than we did.  This is not to say that people are not to be held accountable for their actions, but that we as followers of Christ are to show mercy even to those who may have harmed us.  Verse forty continues, And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.  I know in the world today, if someone takes us to court that we want to give them nothing, and if we take them to court we often demand the maximum that we can get.  I believe that what was being said was that we are to realize that all this deals with material possessions and our physical well being, but Jesus is referring to our spiritual well being.  We are to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and when we are, we will put even those who may have harmed us above ourselves.  Verse forty-one says, And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  I believe that this is simply saying to go beyond what is demanded of us, so that we will never bring dishonor to God.  Verse forty-two states, Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.  We, as followers of Christ, are to help those who ask us for help.  We cannot allow the fear that we are being taken advantage of stop us from helping others.  I cannot say for sure where we should draw the line, but if we rely on the leadership of the Holy Spirit, I am sure we will do what brings glory to God.  Verse forty-three says,  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  This might even seem like a reasonable idea in the terms of the world.  Still, as we shall see, this is not God's standard.  Verse forty-four states, But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;  Jesus said that those who follow Him are to love their enemies and do good for those who hate them and pray for those who despitefully us them.  We all at one time were enemies of God, but He still loved us.  Jesus set the example for us on the cross when out of love He prayed for those who were crucifying Him.  Verse forty-five states, That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.you;  If we want to be the children of God, then we must follow His instructions, which just said that we shall love our enemies.  Verse forty-six asks, For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?  Jesus tells us that it is easy to love those who love us.  Even those who do not claim to be God's people do this, so why should we feel that doing this makes us any better than them.  Verse forty-seven asks, And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?  I believe that this is asking if we greet only those who we view as friends in a friendly matter, how are we any better than anyone else.  We are to approach even our enemies with an attitude to love.  Verse forty-eight says, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.  I do not believe that we will reach the state of perfection in this world, but if we are true followers of Christ and follow His teachings under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, then we will always strive for perfection.

Matthew 5:31 says, It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:  Divorce was allowed in the Old Testament, and it was very much at the discretion of the husband.  The letter of the law required that he give his wife a writing of divorcement.  This was a legal situation and not a spiritual one.  Under God's law, marriage is intended to be a spiritual union between a man and a woman that would last a lifetime.  We have made it a legal institution that lasts as long as it is convenient.  Verse thirty-two declares, But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.  Unless the divorce was based on adultery, then the spirit of God's law says that if a woman, in this case, is divorced and remarries, both she and her new husbands are guilty of adultery.  The same applies to the wife.  Often today people get divorced simply because they want to get remarried.  I believe that the real problem with marriage today is that it has become simply a legal institution instead of a spiritual one.  Verse thirty-three states, Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:  Matthew Henry says this refers to taking oaths to tell the truth.  We are not to swear by our own merit, but by our faith in and relationship to God.  This is the letter of the law.  Verse thirty-four states, But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:  In this verse we begin to get into the spirit of the law.  This does not mean that we are never to swear an oath, but that the oath is not to be based on material things, but on our relationship with God.  Everything already belongs to God.  Heaven is God's thorn.  Verse thirty-five says, Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.  The earth is God's footstool and Jerusalem is His city, so how can we swear by, or take an oath, based on any of these things.  For our oaths to have any real meaning, they must be based on our relationship with God.  Verse thirty-six states, Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.  Now we might say that we can make our hair white or black or even purple, but we really can't.  We can make it appear that way, but at the root it is still the same color.  That being said, I believe that we are being advised to not swear by our own merit or values.  As followers of Christ, God should be in control of every aspect of our lives.  Verse thirty-seven says, But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.  I believe this means that we should be truthful in what we say.  If we say yes to someone, it should not mean maybe, and the same is true if we say no.