In the life of faith, what is the point of disciples being poor?

Jump to Last Post 1-8 of 8 discussions (11 posts)
  1. Iamsam profile image60
    Iamsamposted 11 years ago

    In the life of faith, what is the point of disciples being poor?

    “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew
    5:3
    What kinds of poverty are there?

  2. grow in charity profile image69
    grow in charityposted 11 years ago

    When I read this verse I think that "poor in spirit" is about not being full of pride, or boastfulness. God wants us to be humble, thankful and appreciative of the things he provides us. Often our own pride, selfishness and sin will create barriers between us and God.
    The greek word in this passage comes from Ptochos which means to couch or cower as one helpless. So to be poor in spirit means to fully understand that it is not by our own works, but by our dependence in God that we receive salvation. We can not do anything to grow spiritually without him, we are to submit our lives to God.

    1. lone77star profile image73
      lone77starposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Beautiful words. Blessed humility.

  3. nlpolak profile image82
    nlpolakposted 11 years ago

    In reading the verse, that speaks of the "poor in spirit" being those who are humble, but also separated from the world - in that they don't associate themselves with the cares of this earth, but instead look to what's ahead in eternity. 

    Your question about the kinds of poverty is somewhat unrelated.  You can have physical poverty (lack of material possessions), mental poverty (lack of hope, diminished outlook on life, etc.), or spiritual poverty (lack of faith or lack of resources for faith to grow).  I don't believe being poor in spirit means you are "in poverty", because living in poverty suggests a negative problem marked with intense suffering and a life that's not going anywhere, rather than a choice of lifestyle for the sake of living for Christ and obtaining heaven as the ultimate goal.

    1. connorj profile image69
      connorjposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent answer!

  4. dianetrotter profile image61
    dianetrotterposted 11 years ago

    Many people leave professional jobs to become missionaries.  They are able to use their education and professional skills to help others while making far less money.  A Scripture which comes to my mind is: 
    Matthew 6:33

    King James Version (KJV)
    33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

  5. StaceyCCVC profile image61
    StaceyCCVCposted 11 years ago

    There are several questions being asked here.

    1) What is the point of disciples being poor?  I do not believe that disciples are required to be poor.  Rather I believe that they should have open eyes of how their  blessings can be shared or passed along to others.  God wants us to use what He gives us to show love to and care for others. 

    2) What kinds of poverty are there?  People can be poor in spirit, as referenced in the verse you mentioned.  This means they are humble and do not set themselves up boastfully as being grand or one of high importance.  People can be monetarily poor, having little or no monies or possessions.  We can also be poor in health with illness being our poverty.  Poverty can also be social,  with sufferers being or feeling like an outcast.

    We are called to share our blessings with those suffering from all types of poverty: to give to those without, to heal those in need, and love everyone, including the least of these.

  6. merrylu profile image69
    merryluposted 11 years ago

    Just believing and trusting that God is the Source of their supply, of all good, of all life.  He shall provide. 

    The disciples also followed Jesus as their Shepherd, therefore they shall not want. (23rd Psalm).

    The kingdom of heaven is promised to someone being humble (as in above verse) and to being childlike (Matthew 19:14).  Jesus taught everyone to believe and trust God without hesitation - same way little kids trust their parents.

  7. Reginald Boswell profile image78
    Reginald Boswellposted 11 years ago

    "the meek shall inherit the earth"  : ) : ) : ) : )

  8. lone77star profile image73
    lone77starposted 11 years ago

    "Blessed are the poor in spirit," certainly refers to humility. It means someone who is not haughty or arrogant -- rich of themselves to the point where they say, "notice me."

    On the disciples being poor, they were told by Christ not to be concerned with where they would get their next meal or where they would sleep. God in nature takes care of the lilies of the field and the birds in the trees. With faith, all will be provided to you. Christ was teaching them not to become attached to things or dependent upon them. And this works with humility, because humility is the antidote or cure for the worst attachment of all -- that of ego. Ego is the false self that blinds us from the Light of the spiritual world. Ego is the self that we must let die before we can gain everlasting life.

    Faith and humility allow the true self (the child of God), within, to awaken from the darkness of ego.

    1. dianetrotter profile image61
      dianetrotterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Amen!

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)