The Sermon on the Mount — in two weeks.
Matthew 5-7 is the longest continuous teaching of Jesus in the Gospels — the Beatitudes, salt and light, anger and reconciliation, the Lord's Prayer, worry, judging others, and the wise and foolish builders, all in one sermon. This plan breaks it into 14 daily readings by natural topic, so you can move through it slowly instead of all at once.
How to use this plan
Read the full passage for the day in your own Bible or inside Formation — the highlight verse below is a place to pause, not a substitute for the whole passage. The Sermon on the Mount is dense with practical instruction, so try to name one specific way each day's passage applies to something in your actual life, not just a general takeaway. Use Formation's notes to track which teachings challenge you the most.
Matthew 5:1–12
The Beatitudes — Jesus opens the sermon by naming who is actually blessed: the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." — Matthew 5:8, BSB
Reflect: Which of the Beatitudes feels furthest from how the world usually defines “blessed”? Why does Jesus start here?
Matthew 5:13–16
Salt and light — two everyday images for a visible, unhidden kind of life that naturally affects everything around it.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." — Matthew 5:14, BSB
Reflect: Where are you currently more hidden than “a city on a hill” — playing your faith safer than Jesus describes here?
Matthew 5:17–20
Jesus clarifies His relationship to the Law: not abolishing it, but fulfilling it — raising the standard rather than lowering it.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them." — Matthew 5:17, BSB
Reflect: How does it change your view of the Old Testament to hear Jesus say He came to fulfill it, not replace it?
Matthew 5:21–26
Jesus pushes past the act of murder to the anger underneath it, and prioritizes reconciliation with people over religious ritual.
"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." — Matthew 5:23–24, BSB
Reflect: Is there a relationship you're avoiding reconciling that this passage is asking you to deal with before anything else?
Matthew 5:27–32
The same pattern applied to adultery, lust, and divorce — Jesus locates the real issue in the heart, not just the visible action.
"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." — Matthew 5:28, BSB
Reflect: Where is your heart already crossing a line your actions haven't reached yet?
Matthew 5:33–37
A teaching on oaths that lands on a simple standard: let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no, without needing to swear to back it up.
"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' Anything more comes from the evil one." — Matthew 5:37, BSB
Reflect: Where do you find yourself over-explaining or over-promising because your plain word alone doesn't feel like enough?
Matthew 5:38–48
Jesus replaces the instinct for retaliation with a command to love enemies — the hardest and most countercultural line in the whole sermon.
"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," — Matthew 5:44, BSB
Reflect: Who is the specific person this verse is naming for you right now — and have you actually prayed for them?
Matthew 6:1–4
A warning against performing generosity for an audience, and a call to give quietly, trusting God sees what others don't.
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret." — Matthew 6:3–4, BSB
Reflect: What's one act of generosity you could do this week that literally no one else would ever find out about?
Matthew 6:5–15
The Lord's Prayer — a model for prayer that starts with God's name and kingdom before it ever gets to personal requests.
"So then, this is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'" — Matthew 6:9–10, BSB
Reflect: If your own prayers started the way Jesus' model prayer does — with God's name and kingdom first — what would change about how you pray?
Matthew 6:16–24
Fasting done for God alone rather than for appearances, followed by the choice between storing up earthly treasure and heavenly treasure.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." — Matthew 6:21, BSB
Reflect: If someone traced your spending and your time for a month, what would it say your actual treasure is?
Matthew 6:25–34
A direct command not to worry, grounded in the Father's care for birds and flowers, and a call to seek His kingdom first instead.
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." — Matthew 6:33, BSB
Reflect: What's the specific worry competing hardest right now with “seek first His kingdom”?
Matthew 7:1–6
A warning against a critical, hypocritical kind of judgment — deal with your own plank before pointing at someone else's speck.
"Do not judge, or you will be judged." — Matthew 7:1, BSB
Reflect: Who have you judged recently without first being honest about your own “plank”?
Matthew 7:7–14
An invitation to ask, seek, and knock, paired with the call to enter through the narrow gate rather than the easy, crowded one.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." — Matthew 7:7, BSB
Reflect: What have you stopped asking God for because you assumed the answer was already no?
Matthew 7:15–29
The sermon's closing warnings — false prophets known by their fruit, and the wise and foolish builders who both heard the same words.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." — Matthew 7:24, BSB
Reflect: Of everything in this two-week plan, what's one thing you've heard but not yet actually built your life on?
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