Spiritual Poverty

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3) When I think of discipleship I can’t help but notice how much sacrifice is involved in it. As disciples we are asked to give up everything that is us and replace it with everything that God wants us to be. Some would say that the process of becoming a disciple is a process that is full of poverty. I don’t mean poverty in the sense of monetary value (although that is something that Jesus addresses as well). I mean to reference a spiritual poverty.“Blessed are the poor in spirit …” Here Jesus is saying that those who recognize their spiritual poverty will be blessed. On a daily basis we need to recognize and even celebrate our spiritual poverty. Not celebrate in the sense that we are ignorant of all things spiritual or fail to lead a spirit driven life, but celebrate in the fact that we do not know everything and need to sit at the feet of the teacher to learn from him. None of us, even the most educated and learned ones in the Kingdom of God, can say that we “have arrived” and know all there is to know about following Christ as a true disciple. Though we are called to live a life of perfection, not one of us have yet achieved such a life.Discovering that we have more to learn in the process of becoming a disciple of Christ is not a horrible thing. Again it is something that should be celebrated. Especially when we have decided to allow Christ’s teachings and the Holy Spirit to be the ones who teach us what we need to learn. It is only then that we will be filled with the true wisdom and knowledge that can only come from God. That is what I feel He means when he says “…for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” If we think of it in the perspective of being a child it seems a little clearer. A child who is learning about the world is ignorant of most things until they have been exposed to them. Until they can decipher the truth for themselves they will usually accept as truth what is being taught to them by the teacher. In fact Jesus said that no one could enter the Kingdom unless they become like a little child. Not children in the sense of physical maturity, but children in the sense of spiritual maturity—realizing that there is a lot to learn and believing what is being taught as truth.When we acknowledge the fact that we are poor in spirit, we are acknowledging the fact that there is one above us who can teach us. When we act on that knowledge and seek out the one who can teach us then we have yet again sacrificed who we are and yielded ourselves over to the submission of Christ.Thank you Father for the ability to learn as a child in your presence. I pray that you would fill me with the knowledge I need to live life as a disciple of Christ and the wisdom and strength I need to put that knowledge to use in my life. Thank you for the Kingdom of God. Amen.