阅读经文 

你如何定义成功呢？

对大多数人来说，成功是关于我们取得的成就或在别人眼中获得的地位。当我们升职加薪、养育乖巧的孩子或获得好成绩时，我们往往会感到“成功”。更多的时候，我们以获得了多少物质或成就来定义自己的成功。

但在八福的第一节中，耶稣颠覆了我们对成功的定义。祂说：“心灵贫乏的人有福了（新译本）。”祂用贫乏和疲惫的画面来指出与神相处的意义。

耶稣想让我们明白，无论我们在职场的岗位是什么，或者我们在银行账面有多少钱，我们在精神上都是贫乏的。我们是罪人，我们每个人都是罪人，与我们的造物主疏远，因而无法忠实地为祂而活。只有当我们面对我们心灵状况的真相时，我们才会真正地被称为有福之人。只有停止倚靠我们自己的力量去做事，我们才能接受神为我们所成就的一切。

耶稣要我们明白，门徒不是必须拥有所有答案或取得伟大成就的人。一个门徒对自己的罪性若是坦然诚实的，他会空手来到神面前，并相信我们满有恩慈的父会供应真实生活所需的一切。

How would you define success?

For most of us, success is about our accomplishments or status in the eyes of others. We tend to feel “successful” when we earn a promotion, raise well-adjusted kids, or receive good grades. More often than not, we define success by how much we have gained or accomplished.

But here in the first beatitude, Jesus turns our definition of success upside down. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” using an image of poverty and feeling worn down to describe what it means to be right with God.

Jesus wants us to understand that no matter what our job title is, or how much money we have in the bank, we are spiritually destitute. We are sinners, each and every one of us, alienated from our Creator and unable to live faithfully for him. Only when we face the truth of our spiritual condition are we rightly called blessed. And only by letting go of what we can do in our own strength can we receive what God has done for us.

Jesus wants us to understand that a disciple is not someone who must have all the answers or achieve great things. A disciple is honest about being sinful, comes to God empty handed, and trusts that our gracious Father will provide everything needed for real, full life.