“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3)

Jesus taught on the Beatitudes as part of His Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are Jesus’ important teachings on Christian ethics and values. They describe our new life in Christ and stress on our attitudes. The blessings in the Beatitudes have to do with spiritual standing and rewards rather than material riches or physical wellbeing.

The poor in spirit refer to those who humbly acknowledge their spiritual inadequacy. They recognize their need for God and know that they do not have to earn His love with wealth, status, or spiritual sophistication. They accept themselves and their imperfections. They depend on God.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mt 5:5)

The meek are those who deal humbly and gently with others. A gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God’s sight. How can we be gentle? We can be gentle in speech and in our attitude.

We are often sorry for saying a harsh word, but we will never regret saying a kind one. Gentle speech is graceful. Colossians 4:6 reads, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Seasoned with salt means to weigh one’s answers before speaking so that it can be gentle and effective. We do need to speak the truth, but speak the truth in love, and let your words be seasoned with salt. A message is usually communicated in three ways: through the words we say, the tone of our voice, and our body language. Sometimes people pay more attention to, and thus receive more messages from, our tone than our actual words. Often, we either raise our voice or yell at our family members to get their attention or to demand obedience, thus creating a hostile atmosphere. Instead, we ought to use our gentlest voice at home.