Mark Twain once said, "Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I have always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand." As I began to study the beatitudes, I struggled to understand exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ was teaching. But once I did understand I felt like Mark Twain and was even more troubled. I thought to myself that I could never live up to the qualities of character presented in these words of our Lord. But this struggle to understand what Christ taught was a very good thing for me, because just as Jacob's wrestling with an angel brought him a blessing. I was brought to the point of learning that what God requires of us in the beatitudes, He also enables us to do. And this has brought me closer to loving God with all my heart, soul mind and strength.