Beatitudes: "Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit"

Source: Wikipedia

I am starting a series today on the Beatitudes Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:3-12. The series will run here every Tuesday for eight weeks. Today we start on verse three:

 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I used to think that poor in spirit meant saddened and downcast. I thought it meant we are to feel down because we are sinners.

The Amplified Bible explains the true meaning of the poor in spirit:

Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous-with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

The poor in spirit are the humble. The humble are not downcast or saddened; they are filled with the joy of the Lord. The humble, those who rate themselves insignificant, seek to lift Christ up instead of lifting themselves up. The humble live to make Christ known, not to make themselves known.

I read a sign once that said, “It’s better to be faithful than to be famous.” We are to strive to be faithful, not strive to be popular with the world.