A Pure Heart

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8

When I first got saved one of my goals was to keep my sins to a minimum or, better yet, get rid of them all together. Like you, I have a list of the ones that seem to plague me the most. Twenty years later, I have made advancement in the battle against these sins. As a matter of fact, if you told me twenty years ago about the progress I might make, I would have been pretty happy, maybe even proud.  However, twenty years later I know better.  You see my list of “don’ts” was all external. Do not do this. Do not do that. Do not act out on that impulse. But what I know twenty years later is that my heart can also defile me. I understood do not commit adultery, but Jesus says do not even think about it.  I know I should not murder and have never even come close, but Jesus says that if we are angry without cause we are in danger of judgment. Where does that leave me? Pretty hard to be proud when you have to look inward, not just outward. It makes me want to be like the Apostle Paul and shout “Who will save this wretched man!”

It is Jesus who saves this wretched man. The good news is that Jesus died to save those who are not pure in heart. That includes of us. No one is born with a pure heart. If you don’t believe me, read Romans 3. When we accept Jesus as our Savior we become more than just forgiven. We are born again.  The Bible says that we become new creatures in Christ. Just like the growth of a child born into this world we as Christians grow as well. We start off as babies and hopefully grow into mature Christians. This includes growing our character, victory over sin, and even the purification of our hearts. 

The question is how do we grow and allow our hearts to become purified. There are a lot of legitimate things we can do to grow as Christians and help purify our hearts, but I would like to explore just one area -- relationship. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with God. Spending time with God purifies our hearts. If you sit in God’s presence it will change you; furthermore, we become like whom spend time with. Spend time in prayer, as David prayed “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” (Ps. 51:10). Spend time reading His Word. Spend time with His body (the church). Spending time with God in these will purify your heart.

When we spend time looking inward it can be a pretty scary thing. Thanks be to God who gives us the grace to change not only what we look like outwardly, but who we are inwardly.