Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

If we hope to be “blessed”, to be in that state of eternal bliss and joy, we must heed the Lord’s words in the Beatitudes. First and foremost in this list of blessings, the Lord tells us we must be poor in spirit. But what does it mean to be poor in spirit, and how can we cultivate that sort of spirit in our lives? Let’s explore the first of the Beatitudes together.

Check back next week for a post on the second beatitude, “blessed are those who mourn“.

6 minutes

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

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

Matthew 5:3

This first of the beatitudes is the first wrung of the ladder we must climb toward our spiritual perfection in Christ. It is the fundamental condition necessary for any further progress or growth to take place. If we hope to live the life of God, we must be poor in spirit.

But what does this mean? Poverty of spirit is spiritual lowliness. It is voluntarily humility, the death of pride and vainglory. It is liberation from the “vain imaginations” of our hearts (Jer 23:17, Rom 1:21). One who is poor in spirit understands his imperfection and unworthiness before God. He understands that everything he has, including his very life, he received from God, and that he is nothing without God’s grace. One who is poor in spirit no longer relies on his own ideas, opinions, and desires, but opens himself up to the will of God. Through this spiritual lowliness, our will, our desires, become God’s will, God’s desires.

Poverty in spirit is the foundation of all other Christian virtues

According to St. John Chrysostom, there is no salvation without humility. For even if we distinguish ourselves by fasting, prayer, alms, chastity, or any other virtue, without humility all of these perish. Without poverty of spirit, it is impossible for us to return to God. Nor is it possible for us to acquire any other virtue (ex. love, prayer, gentleness, compassion, modesty, etc.). Pride is the root of all sin. Humility, as its opposite, therefore is the beginnings of a cure, the first step in a healing regimen that the Lord enumerates for us in the Beatitudes.

Wisdom from the Scriptures

There are several examples of what it means to be poor in spirit throughout the Scriptures:

• “A sacrifice until God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise” (Ps. 51:17)
• “When I was brought low, He saved me” (Ps. 116:6)
• “I … am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27)
• “I am a worm, and no man” (Ps. 22:6)
• “I am poor and needy” (Ps. 86:1)
• “I am slow of speech and of tongue” (Ex. 4:10)
• “I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (Is. 6:5)
• “Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly” (Prov. 3:34)
• “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:29)
• “For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden” (Luke 1:48)
• “I am the foremost among sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15)
• “God be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13)
• “God has shown strength with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And has exalted the humble and meek, He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty” (Lk 1.51–54)

By becoming poor in spirit, we come to truly know ourselves, to assess our worth and deficiencies before God correctly.

Our greatest example: The Lord Himself

Our Lord’s entire life provides us the best possible example of what it means to be poor in spirit. Christ Himself was not only physically poor, but also spiritually. As the Scripture says: “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing . . . I can do nothing on my own authority” (Jn 5.19, 30).

If a person wishes to embark on the spiritual life, he must abandon all things and follow Christ in poverty of spirit. To be poor in spirit is simply to be wholly set free from the sinful lusts of this world.

How can we become poor in spirit ourselves?

We become aware of our poverty of spirit the moment God’s grace takes effect within us. Our spirit is the chief motivating force behind seeking our salvation. For we are bound to God not by the soul, but by the spirit. And it is not through the soul, but through the spirit that God’s grace descends upon us.

There are many ways we can cultivate poverty of spirit. Some will find it in physical hardships, like sickness, privation, or misfortune. Others may acquire it through persecution or oppression. Even the wealthy can become spiritually poor, once they realize that everything they possess comes from God, and that God gave it to them for a purpose.

The ultimate way, however, the way to acquire spiritual poverty that ensures we do not succumb to bitterness but instead persevere toward humility, is to turn away from our sins and toward God.

To become poor in spirit, we must overcome our own self and our own pride. We must conquer our passions and temptations, and that battle will look different for each one of us. We must sacrifice ourselves, lose our own selves, and instead live only for God. Then we will see the image of God in others and recognize that all things are dependent upon God. When we realize this, we will yearn to be in steadfast contact with His loving, fearful presence.

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven

The truly humble Christian is a freeborn son, a child of God who is no longer slave to sin. He is the servant of Christ because of his love for and devotion to Him. True humility does not pass judgment. Those who are poor in spirit do not envy, feel anger, arouse anger in others, hurt or rebuke others. Rather, they help their brothers and sisters, pray for their enemies, and bear everything that happens to them calmly, as it comes from God to strengthen and perfect them. They realize that all their accomplishments are really God’s accomplishments through them.

The reward for cultivating this kind of spirit is the Kingdom of Heaven. A life of eternal blessedness. Participation in the Kingdom of God for the humble begins here and now — by means of faith and hope in God. This kingdom, as the Lord Himself says, is within you (Luke 17:21), in the spirit and in the humble heart. But the ultimate reward in all of its fullness will be seen in the future life.

Read More: Receiving the Holy Spirit: Chrismation in the Orthodox Church