Spiritually and physically poor are those who are blessed.

That being said, physical poverty (material and financial) is often associated with holiness, yes. Jesus, Himself, praised the economically poor on more than one occasion (Luke 4:18, 7:22; Matthew 11:25) and He shared in physical hardship often living in a destitute way (Matthew 21:18, John 4:6-7, Luke 9:58). Truthfully, the Incarnation, itself, is a living example of poverty as God emptied Himself and took on flesh (2 Corinthians 8:9, Philippians 2:7-8).

Jesus even teaches that loving the poor is a condition we must fulfill if we are to enter into His Kingdom (Matthew 25:31-46).

Now, the phrase ‘poor in spirit’ speaks to an even deeper reality … beyond physical poverty … but to true spiritual poverty. To be poor in spirit means to acknowledge our deepest human need for God and to grow in that longing and that dependence on a daily basis. It’s only when we realize how badly we need God and how we are nothing without Him that we become worthy of the Kingdom He promises us (Matthew 5:3); when we realize we are the beggars, our gratitude to the Giver (of life) becomes that much greater.

The key isn’t whether you have money or have it not, but whether you have God or have Him not. As the great St. Francis de Sales put it in his “Introduction to the Devout Life” (which is a must read, by the way):

“Woe then to those who are rich in spirit, for their portion will be hell. He is rich in spirit whose heart is in his riches, and whose riches fill his heart… if you possess them, preserve your heart from loving them. Do not, then, complain of your poverty (if you are poor), for we complain only of that which displeases us; and if poverty displeases you, you are no longer poor in spirit, for your heart would rather be otherwise.”

Poor can refer to a person crouched in a corner begging, but this is not the same definition that Jesus refers to in this passage. The phrase “poor in spirit” does not mean economic poverty.

Some people have given all their earthly possessions away without possessing the spirit that Jesus is describing. Jesus is talking about spiritual poverty and not monetary poverty. To truly experience this spiritual poverty, we must come before the Lord broken, humble, empty of pride and conscious of the debt owed for our sins. “Poor in spirit” includes an honest confession that we are sinful and utterly without the moral virtues that we need to commend to God.

This deepest form of repentance acknowledges our desperate need for God. Those who are poor in spirit gladly cast themselves on God’s grace. To be poor in spirit is the personal acknowledgement of spiritual bankruptcy before God. When we recognize our spiritual poverty, there is nothing there to protect or preserve. We’re empty. Jesus teaches us that if we want to achieve wholeness of life, if we want to be fulfilled human beings, if we want to be blessed in this way, if we want to experience genuine joy, we must accept the reign of God, acknowledge our complete dependence on Him and place our complete trust in Him.

We need to trust in God enough to be able to accept His way of fulfillment without reservation.

Brokenness and humbleness allow us to truly experience God and all He has for us. We do not have the spiritual resources in ourselves to put Jesus’ teachings into practice. You and I cannot fulfill God’s standards by ourselves. All that is left for us to do is to come before the Lord “poor in spirit” and in humility. Those who are close to God are poor in spirit, and those who are not poor in spirit are far from God.

So, blessed are those who realize their constant need for God over, above and beyond everything else. Blessed are those not chained to the material and passing pleasures and luxuries of this finite world. Blessed are those free from anything and everything that would interfere with an ever-growing awe of God’s mercy and love. Blessed are those who recognize that no matter how their life is going in the eyes of the world, they are successful in heaven when they are faithful on earth. Blessed are those who need nothing more than God’s love and want nothing more than to share that love with all they encounter.