Beatitudes: Poor in spirit

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3

Are we as needy as this building, beside a road in Oklahoma?

It went against the cultural grain of Jesus' day just like it does ours. Jesus started his teaching by going against what a lot of people thought.

 There are teachers out there who say if you are wealthy, that is a sign of God's blessing, and people were teaching that when Jesus taught as well. Apparently that has been a consistent thought through the ages.

But Jesus was not talking about money. He was talking about the attitude you need to have to come to God.  It is not those who make a show of being religious, or who have high standing, or even who do all the religious things one should do, that will inherit the kingdom of God. Those who think too highly of themselves, may miss it because they are rich in spirit.

When you are poor, you realize your need. Poor people have to depend on others for basic necessities. There may not be anything they can do about it either. They are beggars, hands held out - dirty hands no doubt. Needy. With not much to offer.  Often they recognize their neediness. It is the same on the spiritual level, and what Jesus was getting at in saying Blessed are the poor in spirit.

On the spiritual level, we must realize we are poor, and that is the beginning of being poor in spirit.

This is the beginning of his teaching, and the beginning to finding God. "Being" poor in spirit, as in realizing  you are needy, weak and poor spiritually. Once you realize the need, you can then ask and receive. If you are "wealthy" in spirit, you wont see your need and you wont ask. Jesus was not talking about money, but about one's spiritual state.

It is those who realize their need that will receive the kingdom of heaven.

"Being" poor in spirit then, is realizing your need, seeing your weakness, and turning to God. This is the first step toward inheriting the Kingdom of God.