Be Happy – By Being Poor – Matthew 5:3
In Matthew 5:3 Jesus states that “blessed are the
poor in spirit, because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”.
I have often wondered what Jesus meant by these words. Was
He calling us as Christians to go around like some sad sack going woe is me, woe is me I can’t do anything right? I don’t think so. I think with
these words Jesus is letting us know the value of realizing our place in this world and also in God’s Kingdom.
We need to understand that life is much more than what we see around us. Life is about what is yet to come. We must also realize that we are God’s creation, created in His likeness and
according to His purpose not ours. Add to that the understanding that it is only
by grace and love that we have been granted access to Heaven in the first place.
Knowing all of this should give us an attitude of humility or as Matthew 5:3 a poor spirit. There should be no pride in what we have done, but in what has done through us. Our ideas are His ideas manifested. Our creativity is His
creativity in action. The list goes on and on.
Don’t take my word for it because in another verse found in Matthew 23:12, Jesus says, “that the
Humble will be exalted”. If you think about it that this is what Jesus
was referring to in Matthew 5:3 that if we are humble we will see the Kingdom
Of Heaven. Being poor
in spirit or humble in our society is not a good character trait to have. People
associate humility and a poor spirit with weakness and in this day and age being weak is not something that people aspire
to but as Christians we must look past this world and onto the next and live according to God’s purpose.
Be Happy – By Being Poor – What is Humility
I don’t know about you but I learn by example so
let me give you a Biblical view of what humility is using examples from the ministry of Jesus
1. Matthew 9:10 Jesus ate with sinners. This shows that Jesus did not think of Himself more highly than He ought to. Pretty awesome that God saw Himself equal and not above the lowest of the low by Jewish standards.
2. Matthew 21:5 Jesus rode into town on a donkey. No stallion,
no royal robes, no royal entourage. Just riding on a donkey. How much more humble can you get then that? Even God did not
flaunt His authority.
3. Philippians 2:7 Jesus made Himself nothing in order
to do something for all mankind. The question has to be what have you done for
your neighbor recently or do you feel it is above you?
4. John 11:35 Washed His disciples’ feet. Now I have done this and there is nothing more humbling then washing someone’s feet. I am not saying you have to do this but the Bible says to go and do likewise.
You can see that having a poor spirit means that your
heart is centered not on pride in yourself but on pride in God and what you can do for Him.
Perhaps the best Illustration of humility other then
Jesus comes from Paul in Philippians 3:1-7 where Paul gives and account of all his accomplishments. Paul had every reason
to be proud in himself but in verse 3:8 Paul puts everything in perspective by saying that all of what he just listed is garbage. Paul knew that only by the grace of God was he saved (1 Corinthians 5:10) and that
his pride came in the work that God did through him (Romans 15:17-18).
Where is your pride, in God or in yourself? If it is in yourself learn to Be Happy, By being Poor in Spirit
