The Beatitudes: Part 1 – Poor in Spirit
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Poor in spirit” does not mean lacking the Holy Spirit or religious awareness. Jesus is talking about poverty as not only a physical condition, but also a spiritual one. In fact, the more self-aware a person is of his or her own spiritual poverty, caused by the inborn human condition of the sinful nature, the more one is humbly aware that they are “poor in spirit.” The poor in spirit understand they are in a state of poverty without Jesus Christ as Savior. Without Jesus the Christ alive and active in one’s soul, we remain in a completely impoverished spiritual state; once a person declares Jesus as Lord and Savior of his or her life, Jesus sustains them through a daily renewing of their poor spirit: “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'” (John 6:35).