Day 2: Are you poor in spirit?
Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, doggone it, people like me.” Stuart Smalley would say to himself in a mirror in the early 1990’s on Saturday night live. Smalley was a caricature of the self-esteem movement that began in the 1970’s and reached its peak in the 1980’s.
The children that are the products of self-esteem teachings had teachers and parents that showered them with gushing, unconditional praise, all in the name of protecting self-esteem. These children were further protected from criticism or adverse consequences. The result was self-centered, self-righteous, and entitled people with high self-esteem.
We are warned against high self-esteem, which is better translated as self-worth, as having high self-worth makes us prideful and “Pride comes before the fall.” Instead, we are to be poor in spirit.
To be poor in spirit means to be humble in spirit. This does not mean to be without a backbone or have false humility. Poor in spirit allows us to see our spiritual deficiency, which in turn allows us to realize our own sin and our spiritual emptiness and poverty.
Pride comes in a variety of forms, but the worst is spiritual pride. Often the richer we perceive ourselves, the poorer we are in our hearts.
Proverbs 29:23
“A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.”
Action: Do something nice for someone today, like pay it forward, and give Jesus the credit.