“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”” (Matthew 5:1-3).

When you read the Beatitudes, do you ever compare yourself to them? I do. For instance, I can see a lot of myself in “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” On the other hand, I relate much less to “Blessed are the peacemakers.” I am quite the firebrand when I want to be. Most likely, you also have Beatitudes whose themes you do–and do not–fit. And, if I had to guess, one of the least relatable Beatitudes for most is “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

What does that phrase mean? If your mind works similarly to mine, you may feel excluded after reading it. Is Jesus speaking only to the poor? Many Americans may not be “rich”, but we certainly are not as poor as those in other countries. So should all Christians aspire to poverty? How do we handle this Beatitude? 

The Meaning

To properly understand how Christians should approach this Beatitude, the first step is to recognize the true meaning of the phrase. 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Notice: Jesus does not say “Blessed are the poor” or “Blessed are they who lack money.” Instead, he specifically says “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” (Emphasis added). Jesus is not referring to material possessions, but rather to a state of the soul. Colossians 3:2 says: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Matthew 6:24 states: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

God continually reminds us to keep our minds focused on Heaven, not on the things of this world. What if being ‘poor in spirit’ follows this mindset? Perhaps it does not mean to be physically poor, but to be free of attachment to worldly things. 

It would make sense, right? After all, not every Christian is called to physically ‘give up everything’ to follow Christ. Some people are–missionaries and priests, for example, sacrifice their entire former life in order to serve Jesus. But many other Christians are called to simply live well, bringing Jesus into the everyday corners of their lives. And while some Christians are materially poor, some are materially rich. How close they are to God does not depend on their possessions, but on their willingness to hear and obey Jesus. So how do we become “poor in spirit”?

Living Poor in Spirit

Living the Beatitude of “poor in spirit” is probably one of the hardest challenges for modern-day Christians. To find poverty of spirit, we must first detach ourselves spiritually from attachment to worldly things. This is one of the reasons finding poverty of spirit is so difficult–ninety percent of the time, physically detaching ourselves from possessions is unwise or impossible given our current state of life. Selling your house or car, in most cases, is not the decision God is asking you to make. 

Instead, He’s asking you to do something harder: detach your spirit from your possessions. Do not allow things such as a house to take precedence over Him in your heart. Or, if possessions do not hold much reign for you, how about things like coffee or social media? Giving that up for a short time–such as Lent, if you are a Catholic like myself–is not as difficult as going completely without it. But could you? If it really came down to the wire and God asked you to give it up, would you make that sacrifice? 

Simply asking that question–can I give this up?–can help a lot in determining what things have a hold of our heart. If we ask the question and find ourselves unsure, taking a short sabbatical–such as avoiding coffee for a week–will show us just how much space certain things are taking up in our hearts. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25). When we are blessed with many possessions–for worldly belongings are blessings, gifts from God to us–it is our responsibility to deal with them wisely. By examining our spirits, praying, and considering our attitude towards our possessions, we can handle our blessings wisely and truly become “poor in spirit.”