“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mt. 5:3 (ESV) This is the first of the famous beatitudes which are the beginning of the famous Sermon on the Mount which is considered the core of Christian living taught by Jesus. The poor in spirit are those who recognize that they are spiritually destitute on their own,. Since this sermon is spoken to Jesus’ disciples (Mt. 5:1), Jesus is implying that when we recognize we are not self-sufficient, come to him and follow him, then the kingdom of heaven belongs to us! Even though we are spiritually rich (Eph. 1:3) our posture before God should be one of humility, like one in poverty depending on the generosity of another.
This is a matter of our interior life, not our external actions, although later in the Sermon, Jesus makes it clear that without external actions, we are not his disciples. But the encouragement is that it is good to find ourselves in spiritual poverty and then come to Jesus that way, both when we first believe and throughout our Christian life. Jesus promises, blessed are the poor in spirit. When trials come our way we sometimes find ourselves without the character or resources to handle them in godly ways. Jesus is asking us to admit this to him (and others too, according to other Scripture), then the godliness of the kingdom of heaven will be available to us, though there will be more steps in the process. In other words, honesty and humility are the doorways to his grace.
This is in contrast to those who teach that Christians should be constantly speaking success into their lives, or that they should always think of themselves as powerful. These and similar teachings will tickle the ears of some, but until they think of themselves as spiritually poor they will not have the kingdom of God.
Do you think of yourself as poor in spirit? Do you like the teaching, blessed are the poor?
