“Yea blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (3Nephi 12:3) The first beatitude talks about the poor in spirit. When I think of “poor in spirit” I think of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Typically an alcoholic will not realize he or she has a problem until they have lost all control over their consumption. It isn’t until that person hits the bottom, lost their job, family, friends, and all self respect that they can begin to start taking control of their life. In that moment they are willing to give up and do anything to get out from under the prison they have created for themselves. They will come to realize they can never taste another drop of alcohol the rest of their life. It becomes an all or nothing proposition for them. Help will be provided if they ask. They need help because they cannot do it alone.
You become poor in spirit when you realize you are nothing, that you really have nothing to offer God. This is when you understand that He can make more out of your life than you can because you haven’t really accomplished anything. You thought you had. You did all kinds of things to get His attention and please Him, but you come to a realization that He doesn’t care about any of that. The work you did to earn salvation is not worth anything. Your life has become quite an irony because you have not really known God at all. You may not experience as dramatic a “come-to-Jesus-moment” as Paul did on the road to Tarsus, but the spiritual pain you feel is real when you realize you have only been serving your self interest all your life, even while serving in the church. Think of the anguish the Father of King Lamoni must have felt when he declared, “Behold, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.” (Alma 22:15). When we come to that point where we are willing to give up all that we have for something better, we become poor in spirit. Another way to put it is the poor in spirit do not know Christ, and they are blessed because they realize they don’t.
In Luke, the author record: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” . Nephi and Mathew, however, write: “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me”. The added phrase, “who come unto me” points out that the beatitudes are far more than a simple hominy; they are a treatise on how to obtain the kingdom of heaven. When you realize that Christ is the only way to salvation and that you must anchor your soul to Him and come unto Him, then you have started the process of obtaining salvation. The poor in spirit who come unto Christ have the promise that they will inherit the kingdom of heaven if they endure to the end. The very last beatitude states “blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The last beatitude is the culmination of the process to obtain salvation. The promise is the same as the first beatitude, but where the promise of the first beatitude is a possible outcome, the last is a fulfilment.
In order to enter heaven, we must be poor in spirit; broken and empty of ego. We must come to the point that we know we have complete dependence on the Savior. We are like the poorest of the poor begging in the street for help, but instead of money we are begging for the Lord to intervene in our life, to give us light; to fill us. We become like Alma the Younger who begs Christ, “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.” (Alma 36:18).
After receiving forgiveness Alma asked, “How is it possible?” “And the Lord said unto me, Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women — all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people — must be born again, yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters. And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.” (Mosiah 27:25-26). When a person is broken hearted they are ready to hear the gospel. Being poor in spirit is the begining of a new life. After they acknowledge their souls are empty and devoid of light, the Lord can begin to fill them up. Being poor in spirit is the gateway for our hearts to accept Christ as our Savior and begin our journey to salvation.
“Let us here observe, that after any portion of the human family are made acquainted with the important fact that there is a God, who has created and does uphold all things, the extent of their knowledge respecting his character and glory will depend upon their diligence and faithfulness in seeking after him, until, like Enoch, the brother of Jared, and Moses, they shall obtain faith in God, and power with him to behold him face to face.” (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 2.55)
“Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”(James 2: 5)
“And also that a feast of fat things might be prepared for the poor yea, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees well refined, that the earth may know that the mouths of the prophets shall not fail;” (D&C 58:8)
“They are in great fear, for God dwells in the generation of the righteous. He is the counsel of the poor, because they are ashamed of the wicked, and flee unto the Lord, for their refuge. They are ashamed of the counsel of the poor because the Lord is his refuge.” (JST Psalms 14:5-6)
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” (Psalms 34:6)
“But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.” (Psalms 70:5)