Bad attitude, strong willed, heavy handed, and high minded are all terms that we have heard and to some degree understand. However understanding the term poor in spirit is another story. Sometimes to understand a term it may be best to consider the opposite. By doing this, it can shed light on the original meaning.
The opposite of poor in spirit is rich in spirit. When a person is rich, they, in a simplified definition, are considered as having all the resources necessary to do whatever they please. A person who is rich in spirit will be self willed to do and act in any manner that they desire. However, a person who is poor in spirit will see themselves as inept or unable to do or be as he wishes. This is how you and I were when we came to Christ. We formerly were self willed, independent and running our own lives, but by the sovereign work of God and the calling of the Holy Spirit, we came to a point where we recognized ourselves as weak, hopeless and beggars before God. When we did, we finally trusted Christ and the richness of his salvation and the presence of his spirit in our hearts made us supremely blessed. However, the position of poor in spirit is not simply for salvation.
When a person is poor in spirit, he chooses to empty himself. Just as Christ emptied himself to become man or he submitted the free working of his divinity to his father, we too must empty ourselves and submit ourselves to the father. We do this when we recognize that we don't have any rights and we determine that for our lives, we don't have any say.
Paul exemplifies this in II Corinthians 12:11: I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Mark records Jesus as saying, And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. (Mark 10:44)
The secret to the blessed life is always contrary to worldly wisdom. The secret to getting, is giving, the secret to living is dying and the secret to success with happiness is to give up or to give up on yourself and submit to God.
Do you want to be happy? Then see yourself as poor and dependent on God and he will bring blessings to your heart.
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