Devotions from Mother Teresa/No Greater Love

“God has not created poverty; it is we who have created it. Before God, all of us are poor.”  Poverty is not just being hungry for food, but hungry for human dignity.  This is the hunger to be loved, to be wanted, and to feel the presence of Christ. So many are lonely, discouraged, and lack meaning in life.  Even among the rich are the very spiritually poor.  It is easier to satisfy physical hunger than the hunger from being spiritually deprived. 
Riches can choke us if we don’t use them fairly. Not even God can put anything in a heart that is already full.  Poverty is freedom in the fact that what we possess doesn’t own us, doesn’t hold us down or keep us from sharing of ourselves. Jesus wants us to remain as empty as possible that God can fill us up.

“Our poverty is our humble recognition and acceptance of our sinfulness, helplessness, and utter nothingness, and the acknowledgment of our neediness before Him.”  Jesus said, ”Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:3

“Our lives, to be fruitful, must be full of Christ; to be able to bring His peace, joy, and love we must have it ourselves, for we cannot give what we have not got.”