A few weeks ago, my devotion was all about the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus with an emphasis on the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes essentially means the supreme blessings that are given by Jesus in this Sermon on the Mount. These are the incredibly divine blessings that God is going to give the people who follow these certain characteristics. I decided then that I wanted to do some deep thinking and processing on the Beatitudes, so I will spend a few blog posts processing each individual one.
The first Beatitude, of course, is “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” When I was younger, I definitely didn’t understand this verse. Even still as I have gotten older, there are many times when I don’t understand this verse. I don’t know why anyone would want to be poor in spirit. To me, that originally sounds as though they are poor in attitude, and they have a poor outlook on life. The word poor in general here does not sound as though it would be an incredibly positive or an uplifting characteristic, so why in the world would you want to be someone poor? Then why would this be a divine blessing from God where that person receives the Kingdom of Heaven?
I did some research on this verse. To be poor in spirit is to essentially be aware of our sin. We all sin and make mistakes, as Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The person who is poor in spirit is very aware that they have sinned, made mistakes, fallen short, and is not at all perfect. In many ways, they are humble in their spirits and are aware of their short-comings. A person who is poor in spirit does not try to cover up these facts by boasting about their good deeds or their small perfections. Rather a person who is poor in spirit continues to stay humble.
This is an important heart-set that we need to have when it comes to going to Jesus. We can’t go to God thinking that we are holy and mighty, but instead that we are a broken people, coming to a Jesus that is completely holy. A person that is poor in spirit is very aware that God can completely fill up your brokenness. Therefore, that person who is poor in spirit looks to God to fill them up as opposed to looking at themselves. This can be the opposite of what feels natural. It seems as though people always want to look to themselves for their own strength because we are often taught that the only way to complete anything is through our own strength, and maybe through other kind people in our lives, whether that be a significant other, best friend, or a parent. However, in the end, while trust in the Lord may seem hard and require a great increase in faith, it will be in the end much more beneficial.
This is something that I personally really struggle with when it comes to how I perceive others and their spiritual journey as opposed to my own personal journey. It can be so easy to get into a heart of comparison. I absolutely loved leading a Bible Study in college, but having people come to me for spiritual guidance, I soon started to think that I was just fine on my own spiritually. I didn’t need God as much because I wasn’t very broken. Then, of course, this would all change when I would meet someone else who I thought was more spiritually advanced than myself. I would then feel as though I was too broken to seek a Holy God. However, this is not what it means to be poor in spirit. It should not be in comparison to those that a person is around. A person needs to realize that they are short of God’s glory, no matter who is around but also that God will always love and fulfill, no matter how broken.
Then looking at the next part, because that person is so humble and is poor in spirit, their main prize is that they are going to be gaining the kingdom of heaven. The reason that those who are poor in spirit, receive the kingdom of heaven is because they were so humble throughout their life, that God will grant them more blessings and a heavenly place once they have entered eternal life. This is very similar to the verse from Matthew 20:16, that says, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” God is declaring that whoever doesn’t care about their status in life will be later blessed in heaven and will become first. God will be ready to greet those souls who had a poor spirit and put their trust in him at the gates of heaven.
Colossians 3:23 Blog 