Poverty of Spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit--Matthew 5:3

It is not, in pride or pretense, to make ourselves poor by throwing away what God has given us. It is to be humble and lowly in our own eyes. It is to acknowledge that God is great and we are mean, that He is holy and we are sinful, that He is all and we are nothing, less than nothing, worse than nothing, and to humble ourselves before Him, and under His mighty hand.

It is to come off from all confidence in our own righteousness and strength, that we may depend only upon the merit of Christ for our justification and the spirit and grace of Christ for our sanctification. We must call ourselves poor, because always in want of God's grace, always begging at God's door, always hanging on in his house.

This poverty in spirit is put first among the Christian graces. The philosophers did not reckon humility among their moral virtues, but Christ puts it first. Self-denial is the first lesson to be learned in His school, and poverty of spirit entitled to the first beatitude. The foundation of all other graces is laid in humility. (Matthew Henry)

My grandfather had a sister who believed that everything--everything should be given to the church. They were not able to support themselves because any money that came their way; they gave it to the church. My grandfather ended up supporting them; this caused him to deny Christ his entire lifetime. He had such contempt for the hypocrisy of giving everything away; yet needing support from others. He did accept Christ when he was 86; but what if it had been earlier?

Humility doesn't mean you should adopt a roll over mentality; followers of Christ need to have a strong spiritual backbone. If we empty ourselves completely and allow Christ to fill us; then contentment follows. That is where the poverty part comes in; we are taking away what we want, self-denial, and allowing Christ to take over.