'Poor'

"Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me." (3 Nephi 12:3)"Poor" comes from a root meaning few, little or small. The Oxford English Dictionary defines poor as "having few, or no, material possessions; needy, so destitute as to be dependent upon gifts or allowances for subsistence." In its figurative use, it is "usually with reference to a person's soul, spirit, etc. The use in relation to spirit usually suggests meekness or modesty." Poor can also mean lacking or deficient in the proper or desired quality or lowly and undeserving. (See 1 Samuel 15:17 where Samuel recalls Saul's better days when he "was little in his own sight.")The specific Greek word used in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," means beggar. Strong's Concordance, in discussing this definition, notes "the poor in spirit are not lacking in spirit, but have the positive moral quality of humility, realizing they have nothing to offer God but are in need of his free gifts."One question that immediately presents itself is who is poor in spirit? Is this addressed to those who are simply in the condition of being poor; that is, is being poor a consequence of randomness or is it the result of a deliberate choice to unpack ourselves of "things" that keep us from understanding our total dependence upon the spirit? It appears from the Beatitudes and numerous other verses that inherent in being poor in spirit is the idea that the individual himself must commence that journey to come unto Christ by recognizing his poorness. Thus, poor is not simply a status we find ourselves in, but a voluntary assumption of this necessary precondition to coming unto Christ. As noted by Hans Dieter Betz, in his magisterial commentary Sermon on the Mount, "self-examination is one of the most important activities expected of the faithful disciple of Jesus."An aspect of being poor is the self-awareness that one is a beggar (Mosiah 4:19), needy of being filled with that which it is not possible for the person to produce on his own. This was the condition of the hearers of King Benjamin's sermon as they came to view "themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth," or as King Benjamin described them as having "awakened ... to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state" (Mosiah 4:2, 5).The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount recorded in 3 Nephi add an indispensable element to poorness of spirit. While poor in spirit is necessary, it is not sufficient unless we come unto him.Thus, when we recognize our total dependence, hence our complete need, our complete lack, then, and only then, are we ready to come unto him and be filled with that which we cannot supply ourselves.