What if being “poor” is the starting place for healing?
As someone who has struggled mightily with self-worth issues related to narcissistic parenting, I have been hurt over and over again by others who stepped over me or on top of me to reach the next rung in the social ladder in an attempt to not be “poor”. Now, I realize the eternal value of being poor because it resets my eyes back to where they belong.
“And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said” “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God.” -Luke 6:19-20
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never liked the feeling of “not enough.”
I grew up that way—maybe not by global standards, but certainly by the world around me. I remember trying so hard to belong… to fit in… to feel worthy. We didn’t have much, and in my young heart, that lack translated into shame. While other girls on my cheer team packed for camp, I quietly prayed my parents could cover just the cost of my uniform.
I even told my friends we were “wealthy” but simply chose to live below our means. Looking back now, I see a tender girl doing her best to hold on to a sense of dignity in a world that equated worth with status, and love with performance. Especially when real love—the kind I craved most—was missing from the one place it should’ve been safest: my mother’s arms.
For a long time, I thought being poor meant failure. A lack of resources. A life that was behind, or less-than.
But everything changed when I had an encounter with Jesus—on what truly felt like my deathbed.
It was in that dark place of total helplessness that I finally began to understand what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the poor.” We hear it in Luke 6 and again in Matthew 5, where Jesus flips the world’s idea of wealth and success upside down.
He’s not talking about financial poverty. He’s talking about dependence. Surrender. A soul that knows it needs Him, whether in abundance or in lack.
And here in the Western world, that’s not easy, is it?
We’re surrounded by messages that tell us to hustle harder, be more, rise above, and prove ourselves. Even in Christian circles, it can feel like we need to “have it all together” to be worthy or accepted.
But Jesus is after something far more sacred: our hearts.
The kind that know how desperately we need Him. The kind that know we can’t be healthy, healed, or whole on our own. That real strength isn’t about hiding our need—it’s about bringing it fully to Him.
If I’m honest, I still have moments where I forget to thank Him after He answers a prayer. I still wrestle with pride, insecurity, and the ache of old wounds. I’ve been stepped on, overlooked, and dismissed by others chasing status or survival—just as I once did, trying to escape the feeling of not being “enough.”
But now? I see the beauty in being poor.
Not the material kind, but the kind that brings me back to Jesus again and again.
Back to the only One who defines what rich and poor really mean.
Back to the One who sets the true value of my life and soul.
Back to the One who tells me—you always belong with Me.
And friend, the same is true for you.
Psalm 34:18 reminds us that “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” He doesn’t shame us for being poor in spirit. He draws near.
Needing God deeply isn’t weakness—it’s the doorway to connection, healing, and freedom.
So I’ll ask you gently:
In a world that tells you to be strong and self-sufficient…
Are you willing to be poor?
Because sometimes, that’s the richest place we can begin.