When the heart is full of self-sufficiency and preoccupied with the superficial things of earth, the Lord Jesus rebukes and chastens in order that men and women may awake to a realization of their true condition....

These comforting words of Christ are addressed not to the proud, not to the boastful and self-conceited, but to those who realize their own weakness and sinfulness. Those who mourn, the meek who feel themselves unworthy of the favor of God, and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are all included in “the poor in spirit.”... 

The poor in spirit feel their poverty, their want of the grace of Christ. They realize that they know little of God and His great love, and that they need light in order that they may know and keep the way of the Lord. They dare not face temptation in their own strength, for they realize that they have not moral force to resist evil. They have no pleasure in reviewing their past life and little confidence in looking to the future, for they are sick at heart. But it is to such that Christ says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Christ saw that those who feel their poverty may be made rich....

What great privileges are within the reach of those who feel the poverty of their soul and submit to the will of God! The remedy for soul poverty is found alone in Christ. When the heart is sanctified by grace, when Christians have the mind of Christ, they have the love of Christ, which is spiritual riches more precious than the gold of Ophir. But before there can be an intense desire for the wealth contained in Christ, which is available to all who feel their poverty, there must be a sense of need. When the heart is full of self-sufficiency and preoccupied with the superficial things of earth, the Lord Jesus rebukes and chastens in order that men and women may awake to a realization of their true condition....

You may come to Jesus in faith and without delay. His provision is rich and free, His love is abundant, and He will give you grace to wear His yoke and to lift His burden with cheerfulness. You may claim your right to His blessing by virtue of His promise. You may enter into His kingdom, which is His grace, His love, His righteousness, His peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. If you feel in deepest need, you may be supplied with all His fullness, for Christ says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Jesus calls you to come. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.”—The Signs of the Times, August 1, 1895. FH 186


The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others. They may not realize that they are doing any special good, but by their unconscious influence they may start waves of blessing that will widen and deepen, and the blessed results they may never know until the day of final reward. They do not feel or know that they are doing anything great. They are not required to weary themselves with anxiety about success. They have only to go forward quietly, doing faithfully the work that God’s providence assigns, and their life will not be in vain. Their own souls will be growing more and more into the likeness of Christ; they are workers together with God in this life and are thus fitting for the higher work and the unshadowed joy of the life to come. SC 83



Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 (King James Version)