Matthew 5:3

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

Being poor in spirit consists of three things. The main idea conveyed in a poor spirit is a humble spirit. It is one who submits itself to God. First of all it obeys the word of God. The proud heart says that it knows the ways that are best and that it can choose for itself what is righteous. The humble man admits that he does not know as much as God. He will submit to God’s commands even when he does not understand why he should. He trusts God’s wisdom over his own.

The humble heart is also willing to beg for forgiveness. Many people would say that they would never beg for anything. They are not willing to ask for help. Even worse they are not able to admit wrong doing. It is important that we remain humble enough to ask for forgiveness. When we sin against God, we should be willing to go to him and do whatever it takes in order to be right with him again.

Finally there is a certain humility in acknowledging you even need Christ. The Pharisees refused to see their own sin. They could not entertain the thought that they too were sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. Because of this arrogance they treated Jesus with disrespect and contempt. We need to remember that without God we are nothing. We have to rely solely on Him. This thought should cause us to have a sense of thanksgiving. After all, we were forgiven a debt we would never be able to repay.

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