Our Great Spiritual Need!
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven."
Matthew 5: 3
In 2023 a Florida
deputy was accused of street
racing because he wanted to impress his girlfriend.
People get in trouble trying to impress others. We
are all guilty to some extent. It’s our pride!
Jesus had better ideas. He blessed those who
were poor in spirit. He said, “Great blessings
belong to those who know they are spiritually
in need. God’s kingdom belongs to them”
(Matthew 5:3).
When the
Lord spoke of being poor in spirit, He
meant the opposite of everything that’s summed
up in the word pride. Those who are poor in
spirit
have a proper assessment of who they are with
out Christ.
As the International Children’s Bible puts it:
“Those people who know they have great
spiritual needs are happy.”
When we recognize we are spiritually bankrupt, we
understand the wonder of God’s love for us through
Christ. We cannot impress anyone, even ourselves.
But Jesus loves us nonetheless, and through Him
alone we find the Kingdom of heaven.
"The
indispensable condition of receiving the kingdom
of God is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty. To the
poor in spirit, and only to the poor in spirit,
the
kingdom of God is given."
John Stott
