Poor in Spirit

In Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus lays out the nine paths of blessedness also commonly referred to as the “Beatitudes.” Unlike the 10 Commandments God gave to Moses, the Beatitudes are less of commands and more like the fruits of the Spirit that Paul shares in Galatians 5:22-23. The Beatitudes reflect a characterization of a person whose life is closely aligned with God’s Kingdom. These principles reflect what it is like to be living in the Kingdom of God. As you read through Matthew 5:1-12 you will quickly see that most often, these 9 Beatitudes do not align with society values and way of living. Understanding what Jesus meant with each Beatitude can help to live a life more abundant and blessed.

 Jesus starts his teaching with “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:3). So, what does it mean to be “poor in spirit?” The word “poor” is translated from the Greek word “ptochos'' which means "to crouch or cower as one helpless." It signifies the beggar or someone who is totally dependent on others for help and destitute of the necessities of life. Jesus was referring to someone who has nothing and knows it. The way into the Kingdom is to first recognize that you have nothing. We are completely dependent upon God and what He can do for us, not what we can do for ourselves. Without God’s grace, love and compassion there is nothing we can do in our own strength to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because we will fall short. 

Unfortunately, living in today’s world, the opposite of Jesus’ teaching is seen as a great virtue. As a culture we believe in self-reliance, that we are enough and that we have what it takes to satisfy our own lives. Whether it is our marriage, our children or getting that promotion at work, we can fulfill our lives by our own actions. However, Jesus’ message here is quite the opposite. No matter how hard we try, in our own strength we are powerless and weak. We might be able to accomplish our self-goals in our own strength, but without recognizing God’s power, mercy and grace, we are merely sinners aligning ourselves with the ways of the world. 

Religion has also gotten in the way of Jesus’ message as it has taught that if we do enough good acts that we will inherit the Kingdom. But Jesus never said blessed are those who do enough good acts to earn their way into Heaven. His message is quite contrary to that. Inheriting the Kingdom is to first deny yourself as self-reliant and to recognize that we are merely beggars who are totally reliant on God. It’s a humbling message.

It's clear from Jesus’ teaching that we must align ourselves with God’s will and not the will of the world we live in. We live in this world, but we should not be of this world (John 17:14). Our own acts are not good enough. We cannot earn our way into Heaven. We need to put our pride aside and recognize that we must rely on God in order to inherit the Kingdom and we must put our faith in His works not our own.