Strong in Spirit = Poor in Spirit

Luke 1:80 And the child [John the Baptist] grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.



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Father, today my prayer is that you would make me strong in spirit like John the Baptist, which I suspect comes through being poor in spirit since the Kingdom of God is upside down. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Is it what some call piety? As I understand it, piety is the understanding of our position in the created order, both high and low in relation to everything else. We were created to be tenants of creation and in a sense to rule over it. In time we will even judge the angels. At our pinnacle, we will be called friends of God. And yet, our way forward is a humble, narrow path. In John's case, that meant living life in the wilderness and dying a death that, in the eyes of the world, was certainly humiliating and pointless. I am sure that Jesus felt the emotional pain of seeing his cousin go through the tribulation of a poor-in-spirit/strong-in-spirit life. And then Jesus went on to model it himself, pouring out his blood and spirit so that the Holy Spirit could then be poured out on us. What is a spirit? What is a soul? I am more aware, as of late, of the error of viewing myself in terms of my physical attributes alone. More and more, when I look at myself in the mirror, I am aware of myself within myself. I realize, like Adam and Eve did, that my physical body is insufficient in certain ways. But the road of introspection and meditation teaches me that my spirit is also insufficient, and recognition this lack becomes recognition of grace through faith.