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"Blessed are the poor in spirit"--Who are these poor in spirit, who are singled out, thus to be congratulated? Jesus is not extolling the spineless, the dejected, the dispirited. To assume that such people are the poor in spirit is to misunderstand the New Testament, and unwittingly to malign the vigorous, compelling, attractive person Jesus was. The poor in spirit are those who are aware of their spiritual need, and who are not blinded to God's purpose.