Beatitudes - "The Constitution for a Perfect Life"

I am continuing with President Harold B. Lee's thoughts on "perfection"... Now, I will type up...this wonderful essay on the "Beatitudes"...being "The Constitution for a Perfect Life":

"You want to know the "steps" by which one can have his life patterned to that fullness that makes him a worthy citizen or "saint" in God's kingdom. The best answer may be found by a study of the life of Jesus in the scriptures...Christ came not only into the world to make an atonement for the sins of mankind but to set an example before the world of the standard of perfection of God's laws and of obedience to the Father. In his Sermon on the Mount the Master has given us somewhat of a revelation of this own character, which was perfect,... and in so doing has given us a blueprint for our own lives..."

"In that matchless Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has given us eight distinct ways by which we might receive...joy. Each of his declarations is begun by the word "Blessed."...These declarations of the Master are known in the literature of the Christian world as the BEATITUDES...They embody in fact the constitution for a PERFECT LIFE."

"Let us consider them for a few moments. Four of them have to do with our individual selves, the living of our own inner, personal lives, if we would be perfect and find the blessedness of that inward joy:

• BLESSED are the poor in spirit.
• BLESSED are they that mourn.
• BLESSED are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.
• BLESSED are the pure in heart. (Matthew 5:3-4, Matthew 5:6, Matthew 5:8.)

I will post the meaning of each of these over the next few days.