Some time back, I was hurt by someone in our church community. It shattered my life. I felt like something inside of me died. I felt the sting every time I entered the church building. I thought I could never forgive that person. But, healing did come by realizing that I was not perfect and other people are not perfect either. I was thankful for the death that Jesus was willing to suffer for me, an imperfect human being, and pay the penalty that I could never pay.

Early in Jesus’ ministry on earth, He gave us a list of traits that would enhance our living on earth and offer rewards in the future kingdom of heaven. He sat on a mountain with his disciples around him to teach these important truths. These traits don’t give access to the kingdom but they offer rewards in the kingdom of heaven.

The first trait is, “poor in spirit…” Someone who is poor in spirit recognizes his own sinfulness and poverty before God. It does not mean poor self-esteem but getting a handle on our spiritual pride. We cannot reach God on our own merits. We need Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty that we deserve because of our sin. We must rely completely on Jesus’ sacrifice as our ticket to the presence of God. We are blessed by the Lord’s spiritual abundance when we realize our own spiritual poverty. (See Ephesians 1:3-14 for a list of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus.)

The person who recognizes his own sinfulness will be slow to judge others and slow to hold offenses against them. Jesus told this story:

Two men went to the temple to pray, a Pharisee and a tax collector, a religious leader and a blue-collar worker in the pew. The Pharisee stood, his eyes toward heaven, hands pulling on the lapels of his tailor-made suit prayed, “I thank you, God, that I am not like other men, I don’t cheat on my taxes or on my wife, I give large amounts to every project that is presented at church, more than these poor people can ever give.” But the tax collector (blue-collar worker) stood a good distance from him and would not lift his eyes to heaven, but with head bowed he beat his chest and pleaded quietly, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Jesus told the crowd that this man went to his house justified, rather than the other one. Then Jesus added, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (or blessed).” (Luke 18:10-14) He could’ve added, “Remember when I said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven?’ This man will receive his reward and reign with me in the future kingdom.”

Blessed, abundant eternal rewards is for the one who realizes his own shortcomings and sinfulness. He relies entirely upon the work of Jesus Christ to bring him into God’s kingdom. And when he enters the kingdom of heaven, God will put him up front to help reign in that kingdom.

What does this have to do with forgiveness? Everything. The first step in forgiving others is to realize your own depraved condition spiritually. You must take the beam out of your own eye before you attempt to take a splinter out of your neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7:5) You must be spiritually humble to truly forgive your neighbor. Jesus was the only human being who ever lived who was perfect.