Blessed are the poor in spirit …

Jesus taught many things in His lifetime. Today’s article is a look at one of them, Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This verse is the first of eight verses in what is known as “The Beatitudes” in Matthew 5. The English word, beatitude, is from the Latin beatus, meaning “blessed

These beatitudes were extraordinary sayings. The crowds were used to getting a verbal beating by their church leaders and walking away feeling guilty and hopeless. But Jesus begins his sermon with the word blessed. This was different, very different.

The...