“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:3 ESV
First Things First
The very first blessing Jesus gives—the starting point of life in God’s Kingdom—is to those who are poor in spirit.
To be poor in spirit means to recognize our standing in relation to God. We have inherent value to God because we are made in His image. But we are also broken, marred by sin, and incapable of being or producing anything good apart from God. When we look at God and His Spirit at work within us, we become aware of our utter inadequacy, and we acknowledge our desperate need for a Savior. That’s what it means to be poor in spirit.
Jesus starts here because we start here. He knew we don’t have to aspire to be poor in spirit. Imagine how discouraging it would be for us if He had begun with blessed are the merciful, or blessed are the pure in heart. Those qualities don’t come as naturally to us; we develop them over time, in partnership with the Holy Spirit. But poverty of spirit? That’s as easy as breathing. Jesus, in His great grace, says, before you grow in these other areas—when you come to Me as you are, destitute and helpless––you have a great reward.
It should be noted that poverty of spirit is not the same thing as self-hatred. Jesus was not calling us to debase or despise ourselves for His sake. We are to view ourselves as God does, and that means first acknowledging our status as His children, made to be His image-bearers on earth. We are sinful, but we are made righteous through Jesus’s sacrifice. We are sinful, but we have value and are loved by God despite our sin.
The Kingdom of Heaven
The moment we put aside the false notion that we have power in and of ourselves to enter God’s Kingdom is the moment we receive it. God’s Kingdom is not for the proud, the self-sufficient, or the high-achievers who come to Jesus toting a long list of accomplishments and the belief that they could ever do enough to earn their place.
Instead, Jesus—as He so often does—flips the expectation on its head. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. The Kingdom is for those who know they did nothing to deserve such a generous gift.
