Matthew 5:3
(3) Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven .
"Poor in spirit " does not mean to conduct one's life without vitality . nor does mean that a person is weak. would we ever accuse Jesus of being weak ? Jesus was the personification of humility . People think of humility as weakness because they are judging carnally by man's spirit, by sight . But the Spirit of God , the faith of God , judges according not seen - the Kingdom's standards .
Here is a definition of poor in spirit from Emmet Fox on the Sermon on the Mount : To be poor in spirit means to have emptied yourself of all desire to exercise personal self-will and what is just as important to have renounced all preconceived opinions {prejudices} in the wholehearted search for God . It means to be willing to set aside your present habits of thought , your present views and your present way of life , if necessary , to jettison in fact anything and everything that can stand in the way of your finding God .
When Jesus counseled us in Matthew 18:4 that unless we became as little children we would not even be in the Kingdom of Heaven , He was not holding up a child's innocence or purity as a model . He was not counseling us to become childish but to have a child's unconcern for social status , honor , or anything similar . When we are carnal , pride is such a master that we have little choice but to follow it. It is plowing the way before us. One who is truly poor in spirit , however , can ignore pride and follow God's lead .