Most people think of themselves as moral people. But what does moral really mean? The dictionary defines moral as concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human characteror holding or manifesting high principles for proper conduct. True morality and integrity only come from the inside. It is our heart attitude that truly changes our outside behaviorbecause our outward behavior flows from the inward nature of our hearts. So, when Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart...",He was saying that what we all really need is to be right on the inside. It is not about external purity, but internalpurity. God does not want us to go through the motions that we think will make us a Christian or that will make us seem like a Christian to the rest of the world. He wants us to act with sincere desire from a pure heart.
Becoming “pure in heart” is really the process of sanctification. It is seeking God with all our heart and desiring God above all else. When we are pure in heart, all our actions and intentions are based on who we are in Christ. The choices we make are a reflection of Him. We cannot be double-minded and be pure in heart. We cannot love sin and love God. We will always have struggles with sin because Satan is relentless in his attack on us. But if we sincerely desire Christ more than anything, we can filter everything through Him and keep sin at bay – in His strength. We have to intentionally work to protect our hearts and minds, as well as our physical bodies, from sin. When we fail, because we will sometimes, Jesus Christ provides the cleansing we need to be pure in heart again.
To be pure in heart means more than avoiding outward sins, it means avoiding double-mindedness. Double-mindedness is like a cancer of the spirit. It slowly eats away at your spiritual life until there is no real life left. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). James, in his book(James 4:4), reminds us that"friendship with the world is hostility towards God" and then gives us the solution: "cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (v.8) – which isan uncompromising desire to please God
They shall see Godmeans fellowshipwith God. If we allow sin to take up space in our hearts, we can’t have fellowship with God. You don’t have to have a lot of areas of weakness or sin. Unfortunately, it only takes oneweaknessto stand between the believer and a pure heart for God. All Satan needs is one tiny piece of our heart to take us from Christ. It is sin that stands between us and God and its removal restores fellowship. Psalm 51:10 saysCreate in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Only God can restore the purity to our hearts because of the sacrifice of His son for our sin and because of His sanctification in our lives. The restoration of the purity of our hearts will bring us to Jesus and keep us in fellowship with Him.
Scripture to Claim:
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
