Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Have you ever mourned the loss of something in your life? Maybe a death of a loved one, an end to a relationship or a shattered dream? I find it consoling knowing that those who mourn, God desires to comfort them. In fact, it almost seems like He finds great pleasure in doing so. Maybe because He has felt great pain and suffering and knows what comfort can do for someone who is mourning. He knows how the pain of suffering can cut deep.

Upon my research, I found that mourn can be defined as “having deep sorrow or regret.” Although, in this passage, mourn is most commonly believed to be related to feeling sorrow for the guilt from our sin. In the previous beatitude, we focused on the “poor in heart” and how those who are “poor” need Jesus’ free gift to cover the cost for their “poverty.” Here we move onto the next phase, when we realize our sin and depravity. We mourn the sin we have committed and grieve all that Jesus had to go through for our sins to be forgiven when we accept Him into our hearts.

While mourn in this context most commonly relates to our sorrow for our sin, it can also associate to mourning the loss of someone or something. In Greek, it can also refer to grieving over a personal hope or relationship ending.

I don’t know about you, but there have been many instances where I’ve mourned over a death of a loved one, loss of a personal relationship with someone I admired, or the loss of something I desired never being fulfilled. We all face circumstances in our lives that leave us with a broken heart and in need of mourning over what once was or what we thought might occur.

As sinners we also mourn over the guilt we feel when we sin and our inability to attain perfection. We grieve when we are reminded of all that Jesus had to endure so we have the ability to enter into heaven. The pain He must have suffered when they falsely accused Him. The agony He faced when they beat Him with the scourging whip digging deep into his perfect body so we could know what true love consisted of.

If I’m being honest, I often don’t mourn over what all Jesus had to endure as frequently as I should. I may think about it from time to time, but I don’t “show deep sorrow or regret” as much as I should. I take it ever so forgranted. I forget all that was done for me so I can have eternal life. Instead, I focus on all that seems wrong with my life rather than remembering all that Jesus had to go through. I search for scraps of love from this world when I forget all the love that Jesus displayed and offers to me every single day. I ask forgiveness for my sins, but sometimes I honestly don’t realize all that was done for me so I could seek forgiveness and be forgiven. What an incomprehensible gift that I so often overlook.

When I’ve messed up and fallen short in so many areas in my life, how great it is to know that Jesus always will forgive me when I seek Him and ask for forgiveness. He just doesn’t forgive me, but still displays His love for me like it never happened. I can’t recall any relationships I’ve had here on this earth that possessed such grace.

While studying this beatitude, I’ve been convicted of my awareness for all that Jesus has done and is doing for me. When I fall short and act selfishly, causing my example of Christ to be impacted, I can allow regret to eat away at me. It causes me to feed on my imperfection and fallibility.

When we turn to God and feel agony over our pain and seek forgiveness, He will offer it graciously to us. He also provides us with comfort. This comfort, as translated in Greek as parakaleó can be defined as “encourage” or “strengthen.” This word for comfort can also be often referred to as the Holy Spirit since He is our Comforter and He indwells in us when we become saved (John 14:26) .

God doesn’t just offer us forgiveness for our sins, but He does so with a gracious comfort allowing us to experience His love by encouraging us even when we’ve messed up. We can be strengthened, knowing that He will always love us no matter what. He’s not leaving us. He’s not going anywhere. We can find comfort knowing He is near and our mistakes don’t make Him love us any less.

I’m not sure what you are facing right now, but you can hold onto the promise that when you mourn, God is right beside you comforting you through the darkest of moments you face, even if you’ve failed or messed up. I believe He desires to draw closer to those who suffer immense pain and use the hardest times to display His loving comfort. When God comforts us we can know that it’s genuine. It’s not fleeting or for selfish gain. It is solely for the purpose to encourage and console our broken hearts. Now that is something that we can find abundant blessings of comfort in!