- Both need blueprints or instructions to be constructed properly.
- Both are built to a standard that will withstand outside forces that would damage them.
- Both need regular upkeep/upgrades to maintain their strength and integrity.
- Both are built to be places of safety and refuge from the storms of life.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ gives us the spiritual blueprints we need to build a strong spiritual foundation. The foundational principles He emphasizes in Matthew 6&7 are…
- Giving service (Matt 6:1-4)
- Prayer (Matt 6:5-13, 7:7-8)
- Humility (Matt 6:8-10)
- Forgiveness (Matt 6: 14-15)
- Fasting (Matt 6:16-18)
- Putting God first in our lives (Matt 6:19-24, 33, 7:21-23)
- Faith and trust in God (Matt 6:25-34)
- Righteous judging (Matt 7:1-5, 15-20)
- Kindness (Matt 7:12)
- Make covenants with God (Matt 7:13-14)
- Obedience (Matt 7:24-27)
It is no coincidence that Jesus gives the example of the foundations of the wise man and the foolish man (Matt 7:24-27) at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, thus emphasizing the importance of using all the principles He just taught in order to build our spiritual foundations upon solid ground.
In the October 2021 General Conference, Pres. Nelson gave a talk entitled The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation. In this talk he used the same analogy as Christ did when he compared the physical structure of the Salt Lake Temple to our own personal spiritual strength. He states: "it is now time that we each implement extraordinary measures - perhaps measures we have never taken before-to strengthen our personal spiritual foundations. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures." If we feel like our spirit is in need of some strengthening, we can look to Christ's Sermon on the Mount for inspiration regarding where we can improve on our journey to become more like Him.
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