“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 is 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 that we are not self-sufficient and come to Jesus and follow him then the kingdom of heaven belongs to us! This is a matter of our interior life not our external actions, although later in the Sermon Jesus makes is 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. 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) and 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.
