Blessed are the poor in Spirit (Mathew 5:3)
American culture is one of independence and self sufficiency. It is all about image. It tells us we need to have it all together. We need the Pinterest homes, the successful job, the smart parenting tips. But, Jesus tells a different story. One of dependence.
Blessed in this context means content or happy, and poor can be translated as, “beggar.” (The word used here is ptochos which means poor and beggar)
So, lets say it another way:
Happy are those that beg (Mathew 5:3)
I might mourn because I feel like my needs aren’t being met BUT God says that we can rejoice that our needs don’t feel met because we have a Savior who died to meet them.
We must come to Jesus as spiritual beggars. Desiring to accept anything off of his plate. For we are blessed to be of need and even more blessed to realize that we have need. For without that need we would miss the beautiful message of the gospel. With neediness comes a void, and with a void we can experience the fulfillment of knowing Christ. Furthermore, the church and community is built in neediness. Begging opens up the door to fellowship, and a full life is lived in a vulnerable state of dependence.
![Has a post on social media ever made you immediately frustrated? Maybe you even started to think ill of the author of the post. You feel your chest tighten and wonder, how could they have said that? You are so mad you want to click the unfollow button.
[save for reference for when you’re offended]
An offense can happen when someone sins against us, or even if someone just rubs us the wrong way! Often, it comes out of a “right versus wrong” mentality. We get offended and harbor bitterness. Wounds and resentment create rifts and divisions and we find ourselves clutching our anger tightly in our fists to prove we are right.
It’s okay to feel upset when you are offended or sad, but we can’t let bitterness take root. Instead, we must be quick to forgive. As believers, holding a grudge inhibits our ability to reconcile. And when we avoid reconciliation, we miss out on what God wants to do in and through us.
Typically for me, offense stems from pride or self-righteousness. I have received some pretty offensive comments over time, and my feelings do get hurt. But as Christians, we need to be able to “overlook an offense” just like it says in Proverbs.
This passage says it is “one’s glory to overlook an offense.” #chasingsacred (read the rest of the article on @hosannarevival)](https://www.chasingsacred.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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