The Life and Ministry of Jesus
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:1–3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” What is poverty of spirit? It is the opposite of that haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much admires and praises. It is the very reverse of that independent and defiant attitude that refuses to bow to God, that determines to brave things out, and that says with Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?” (Ex. 5:2).
Poverty of spirit is evident in a person when he is brought into the dust before God to acknowledge his utter helplessness. It is the first experiential evidence of a Divine work of grace within the soul, and corresponds to the initial awakening of the prodigal in the far country when he “began to be in want.” 1
Personal Encouragement
“To be poor in spirit is to realize that I have nothing, am nothing, and can do nothing, and have need of all things.”1 Have you every come to that place? The more you walk with Jesus, the more times you return here, only to find His grace was waiting for you.
But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Luke 15:14
After admitting your spiritual bankruptcy comes the promised blessing.
A Prayer
Lord, thank You for purchasing me from the slave market of sin, then adopting me.
1. Pink, A. W. (2005). The Beatitudes and the Lord’s prayer. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
