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

Have you ever wondered what it is to have a pure heart? To our way of thinking that would be an impossibility, wouldn’t it? I mean, how pure is pure? Doesn’t it say very plainly, in I John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” So, just what is a pure heart? We should all want to know the answer to that because Jesus said that if our hearts are pure, we will see God and we will experience His Blessing!

As always, Jesus gave us the answer. The rest of the Sermon on the Mount is filled with the answers to this, and many other questions. Notice that He spoke in detail about love, forgiveness, mercy and compassion, and not judging others without considering our own faults.

I believe Jesus was zeroing in on a blind spot we all have, and it prevents us from experiencing the blessing of God and enjoying His presence. It’s a poison called Self-Righteousness. It diminishes our love for one another, neutralizes our faith, and steals our Joy and our Peace. But, most of all, it hinders our fellowship with God, and robs us of walking in the Blessing.

The only remedy for self-righteousness is meditating consistently on daily bread of the Word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal our own hearts to us and bring correction.

I believe that a pure heart is a heart that holds God’s Word as its first and final authority. It is the one standard that He holds us all accountable to. And it is also through the Word that God reveals His love to all who simply believe.

With Love,

Pastor Tom