“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
Lately it seems that we all feel troubled, frustrated, and powerless due to all that is going on in the world. These things in the world frustrate us because we really can do little or nothing to resolve them. We feel powerless, fearful, and victimized for it seems that wickedness has permeates society and government on every level including the media and the educational systems. Laws and mores have been changed to allow sin and selfishness to grow, prosper, and negate the laws of God. This whole situation emphasizes the fact that we believers do not belong in this world. We are not first and foremost citizens of our nation. We are primarily citizens of the Kingdom of God. And there is a great gap between the culture and values of the world and the Kingdom.
The Sermon on the Mount helps us put our lives in perspective for the underlying basis for the tenets and principles of the Kingdom lies within the beatitudes. These beatitudes are 8 blessings given for 8 qualities that Christians manifest. They are an interconnected group that describes every believer. Each one is to be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker and persecuted for righteousness.
The first beatitude is vital to Kingdom living. Christians are to be poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, that we have nothing to offer God. We are sinners who are spiritually bankrupt deserving only God’s wrath and judgment. Only those who repent, who recognize and admit their spiritual poverty receive the blessing of faith and citizenship in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is a blessing given only to those who admit they are sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy. The kingdom is a blessing given to the weak, the humble, the losers, and the rejects of society, to who know they have nothing to offer God, who know they can achieve nothing of value or worth. All they can do is cry to God for help and mercy. And when they receive it they are comforted.