By Kayla DeKraker
Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter reflected on the classic story Les Misérables to explain what it means to be “poor in spirit.”
Carter opened a recent Instagram post by quoting Matthew 5:3, which says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
“In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, we see the character Jean Valjean embody what it means to be poor in spirit,” the athlete wrote. “Here is a man who was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. He is thrown into a world that shuns, ridicules and strips him of any hope and dignity that he had.”
Carter explained that Valjean was “hopeless, lost and filled with brokenness.”
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“During this time, he encounters the Bishop, who showers him with kindness, and he responds by stealing silver from him,” he continued. “He is caught and thrown at the feet of the Bishop, expecting to face judgment, but the Bishop responds with this quote. ‘Why didn’t you take the candlesticks?…I’ve ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God.’”
“In that moment, Jean confronts his true self as a sinner, crying, ‘I’m such a miserable man!’ Yet, this marks the start of his transformation, as his spiritual poverty opens the door to grace,” the athlete described.
Being poor in spirit means acknowledging our sin.
“We are sinners deserving nothing but divine judgment and having nothing to offer or plead our case,” Carter said. “It’s stripping ourselves of our pride and self-sufficiency. It’s realizing that we miserably fail at being leaders of our own lives and at being our own gods. And the only antidote to finding true freedom and fulfillment is letting go of our lives and entrusting them to someone greater. And that someone is Jesus.”
The Bishop’s response to Valjean mirrors how God extends mercy to us even when we don’t deserve it.
“It is by grace through faith that we can receive it, and how we, through the redemptive work of Christ, can be transformed into a new person as well,” Carter said, concluding, “Will you embrace spiritual poverty to inherit the riches of the Kingdom?”
Carter frequently uses his platform to share biblical studies and faith-based messages.
“Everything needs restoration and redemption,” he told his followers a few months ago. “And that is found only in Jesus Christ, the One who suffered for us to restore us back to God and promises a future redemption when He returns to make all things new.”
Praise God for His mercy even when we don’t deserve it.
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