“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted<\/em>” (Matthew 5:3-4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Jesus’s first words of teaching, as recorded for us in Matthew, show us that how we come to God truly matters.<\/p>\n A common mindset is that we are largely good people who have made a few mistakes. We need a little polishing, some correction, and a little topping off of good things. We’ve done some things wrong, but we are good-hearted, and our good outweighs the wrong we have done. We have some things in our ledger against us, but they aren’t truly evil, and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up about them.<\/p>\n If I come believing I am whole, how can I be made whole? If I come believing that I am mostly whole, how can God truly fill me?<\/p>\n Come to God empty and broken. Come dead to be made alive. Come hopeless to be reborn. Come ruined to be renewed. Come a fool to be made wise.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Chadwick Brewer “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:3-4). Jesus’s first words of teaching, as recorded for us in Matthew, show us that how we come to God truly matters. A common mindset is that we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1642,463],"class_list":["post-98006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-humble","tag-humility"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61603,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-god-seen-in-nothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":98006,"position":0},"title":"The God Seen in Nothing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I love that God thinks so differently than we do. Because His ways are not our ways, He consistently reveals Himself to us using means that we never would have chosen. We prefer straight lines and straightforward propositions, but God works in subtlety and paradox. These\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-good-life-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":98006,"position":1},"title":"The Good Life (Moyer)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Ask people if they want a good, happy life and they will say, \"Yes. Of course.\" No one wants a terrible, miserable life. Yet, while we all want the good life, many will think that this is not attainable. Or, if it is attainable, it is to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33555,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-find-opportunities-to-do-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":98006,"position":2},"title":"How do I find opportunities to do good?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I find opportunities to do righteousness when I'm either at home studying or at college or school studying? I mean I need opportunities to practice Christian skills. Should I ask God to help or should I really sort myself out as a Christian and then scour the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70575,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-songs-of-ascents\/","url_meta":{"origin":98006,"position":3},"title":"The Songs of Ascents","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Psalms 120-134 There is a special grouping of Psalms that were often used to prepare the Israelites for making the worship at the temple very special. It was like anticipating the worship to ensure it would not be a vain and wasted moment. You sang or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ascent-240x300.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29544,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-conflict-of-interest-if-a-man-is-both-a-preacher-and-an-elder-or-deacon\/","url_meta":{"origin":98006,"position":4},"title":"Is there a conflict of interest if a man is both a preacher and an elder or deacon?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question that I am struggling with. I can't find any scriptural reasons against what has been done at our local church but still have an uneasiness about it. We have a smaller church whose membership has been trending down the past several years since our minister\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-meaning-of-life-why-are-you-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":98006,"position":5},"title":"The Meaning of Life: Why Are You Here?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 6:6-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is it that you are looking for out of life? What are you expecting? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So many people never find contentment with their lives because they are expecting things that life cannot deliver. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They decide they can\u2019t be happy with life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/broken-300x200.jpg\")
But Jesus shows us how to approach God: empty and broken. Without God, His forgiveness, His guidance, and His restoration, I am spiritually empty and bankrupt. I am to come to Him broken over the separation from God caused by my sins. We are to come broken so He can make us whole. We are to come empty so that He can fill us with His fullness.<\/p>\n