“Pure in Heart”

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”(Matthew 5:8)

Here the Lord is obviously not speaking of the blood pump, but of the seat of one’s affections.  “Pure” means to be “clean” or “free from pollution”.  The Pharisees thought of clean hands, but Jesus insists on purity of heart.

Those who are clean in heart are totally transparent and have no selfish aims.  “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith”, (1 Timothy 1:5)  “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)  “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,” (2 Timothy 1:3).  Those who are pure in heart have no aim, but to serve the Lord.
  
For one to be pure in heart one must develop a spiritual mindset.  God urges us to control the desires of our fleshly body ( II Corinthians 6:16) by focusing on the inward man.   By cultivating a spiritual heart, one develops a keener sense of what is truly important which helps one to make wise decisions.

The pure in heart have replaced worldly ambitions with a complete devotion to God’s will.  The unclean heart of evil thoughts has been purged by a love for God and of those things that please Him.  It is a heart of single minded devotion to God.  

The pure in heart have developed a heavenly vision.  With such a vision, one treasures eternal things more than earthly things.  “To see God” literally means to gaze upon with wide opened eyes.  It carries the idea of fellowship or experience.  This vision should move us toward a moral likeness to God and greater empathy with His cause.  

Only the pure in heart will see God.  “Their hearts are free from defiling fantasies and are not distracted by conflicting desires and intentions.  They are wholly absorbed by the contemplation of God”.  (Dietrich Bonheoffer) 

By George Slover

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