Poor in Spirit

Let the brother of low degree rejoicein that he is exalted. -James 1:9

A large portion of our study in the second week focused on the poor and how they are blessed to know that one day they will be exalted. The flip-side of this is that the rich must realize that their riches are only fleeting, and someday all of it will be taken from them, whether by calamity in this life...or by its ending. No one keeps their worldly possessions forever.

The emphasis here should be on the rich realizing the transient nature of their wealth. Many well-meaning Bible teachers put forward the opinion that being rich is somehow evil in and of itself. Neither this, nor some inherent righteousness about poverty, is supported in scripture. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was also insanely rich in worldly goods. Joseph counseled the Egyptians to store up wealth, keeping it safe against the time of famine that was to come. Clearly, riches themselves are not the problem.

The problem is with our attitude about riches. If our attitude is one of selfishness and an unwillingness to share, then we are sick with a hardened heart against our fellow man. If our attitude is one of stern self-reliance and trusting in our wealth, then we have hardened our heart instead against God and refused to recognize his provisions or our dependence on him.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the POOR IN SPIRIT."
Until we were discussing this lesson in small group, I had never really understood what that meant. I'd read it, wondered about it, but never really heard or thought of an answer that satisfied the question, "What is Jesus talking about 'poor in spirit'?"

After discussing, here is what I think that means:
To be poor in spirit means to live with the mindset of someone who is poor. No matter what your financial station is, to keep the mindset of one who lives in poverty. That is to recognize that you NEED God. When we're coasting along and everything's okay financially, we're very tempted to say, "I got this..." when really, we don't. We've got some temporary handle on the situation...but God's really the one in control. We need to acknowledge His lordship and the fact that we need Him every day, just as much as we would acknowledge it if we were down to our last dollar and needed to buy groceries for the week. We should realize, every day, THAT'S how desperately WE NEED GOD.