BEATITUDE #6:
“Blessed are the PURE IN HEART, for they shall see God.”
Purity of heart is a theme that runs from the beginning of the Bible to the end. It is one of the greatest utterances in the Bible. It stretches over everything else revealed in Scripture.
Of all the Beatitudes, this one is the clearest statement on how to enter the Kingdom. Only the pure in heart will ‘see’ God in His Kingdom. Those depending on a ‘religion’ based or human achievement won’t make it into the Kingdom.
Purity of heart comes after you’ve hungered and thirsted for righteousness and after God has dispensed His mercy upon you. It is His mercy that cleanses your evil heart. Purity is not something that you earn–it comes from God’s mercy.
The term “heart,” when used in the Bible, relates to ones ‘will’—the seat of a man’s personality. Predominantly it refers to the thinking processes—not the emotions, but our choices. So, a “pure heart” means that the decisions one makes, the desires one has, the thoughts and intensions of the will, are untarnished by sin, and that the will is determined to be pleasing to God. From a pure heart comes only good things—acts of love, mercy, grace, and desires for righteousness, justice, and peace—decisions that please God.
To be pure of heart means to be free of all selfish intentions and self-seeking desires. What a beautiful goal! How many times have any of us performed an act perfectly free of any personal gain? Such is an act of ‘pure’ love. An act of pure and selfless giving brings happiness to all.
The ‘essence’ of what God wants of each one of us is: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This is to be done not with ‘part’ of your heart, or a double or ‘divided’ heart—that would be ‘impurity’. Purity of heart has no deception, no double-mindedness, no divided allegiance. God wants us to seek Him like King David (“a man after God’s own heart”) did: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” [ Psalm 51:10 ].
God doesn’t care about your appearance, your achievements, your accomplishments, or your acquisitions. God isn’t interested in how educated you are, or how wealthy you are. God doesn’t care how popular or how famous you are. God just cares about your ‘heart’—the ‘real’ you, what’s ‘inside’. (“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” [ 1 Samuel 16:7 ]).
God is more interested in the ‘direction’ of your heart, than He is in the sins you commit—more interested in your ‘attitude’ than your actions, and ‘why’ you do what you do, than actually what you do.
A person with a ‘pure heart’ will experience the pardon and ‘presence’ of God, the ‘power’ of God, a ‘closeness’ with God, the peace of God, and the purpose God has for their lives.
Man tends to measure himself by his fellow man. His standard is always someone ‘lower’ than himself.
For those who set their standards lower than themselves, the ultimate human ‘standard’ ends up being the most ‘rotten’ person alive. That’s because when everyone bases his personal evaluation of himself on a person lower than himself, the standard spirals down from person to person until it can go no
lower—the ‘dregs’ of humanity.
However, God’s standard for acceptable character is that we are 100% pure! Though mankind sets the standard of “goodness” as the worst human being alive, God’s standard is Himself—absolute holiness and righteousness.
The word for “pure in heart” today is integrity.
Integrity is what you are when nobody else is looking—what you are in the ‘dark’. What you really think, act, and do when nobody else will ever find out. The ‘world’ is interested in your reputation, God is interested in your character. Reputation is what you are in public, character is what you are in private (by yourself).
Integrity is ‘tested’ in the “small things.” It’s relatively easy to have integrity in the ‘large’ things, since you know everyone is looking—but God cares more about how you act when no one is looking.
It doesn’t matter if anyone else will see what you are doing—God does! This is a real test of integrity.
There are some ‘benefits’ of integrity:
– When you live with integrity, God will ‘show’ His plan and purpose for you—what to do next. (“A righteous person lives on the basis of his integrity. Blessed are his children after he is gone” [ Proverbs 20:7 ]).
– There will be rewards in ‘eternity’. God will say, “Well done! You are a good and trusted servant! Because you were faithful with small things, I’ll now put you in charge of much greater things. Come and share your Master’s happiness!” [ Matthew 25:21 ].
Here’s a few ways one can develop integrity:
– Keeping your promises (verbal)
– Paying your bills (financial)
– Refusing to gossip (relational)
– Faithfully ‘tithing’ (spiritual)
– Doing your best at work (vocational)
Jesus said wherever your ‘treasure’ is, that’s where your heart is. So, these days, where you put your money first, is what’s most important to you! (If you ‘dare’, take a look at your checkbook for your ‘discretionary’ spending).
The other thing you can do is just be ‘real’ with others—don’t pretend and wear ‘masks’—always be the same. Don’t be a ‘phony’—be an ‘open book’. To do this, you’ve got to care more about God’s approval than the approval of people. (“But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do” [ Acts 13:22 ]).
So, if you are serious about wanting to be a person of integrity, you first have to admit that you aren’t—then God can help you develop it.
Sometimes the greatest integrity you show is during times when it doesn’t seem like there’s any blessings.
Your greatest ‘legacy’ in your life is your integrity—it’s the only thing that will outlast you from generation to generation. Everything else we do will be ‘lost’: the money you have at the end of your life will get divided up and spent; the work that you do will be given to someone else to do and what you did will be forgotten; and all the ‘awards’ you have earned will be thrown away. Encouraging? But, the character you have is going to be ‘translated’ into the people who are around you, and transferred into the lives of the next generation—a lasting legacy!
So, the aim of Jesus is not to reform the ‘manners’ of society, but to change the ‘hearts’ of sinners—someone with a ‘heart’ for Him.
A ‘pure heart’ declares itself by its constant struggle against sin and temptation. Is that the state of your heart?
Purity of heart cleanses the ‘eyes’ of the soul, making God ‘visible’. Can you ‘see’ Him?
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FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT #1:
LOVE
In 1965, Jackie DeShannon sang “What The World Needs Now,” and it became a very popular ballad. The first line in the song ‘answers’ the title by saying that, “love, sweet love” is what the world needs. It expresses a desire that virtually everyone holds—to love and be loved. But what is love?
Judging by the commonly held understanding of “love,” it is clear the ‘world’ has only a ‘foggy’ notion of what love really is. The prevalent idea is that love is a warm sense of regard, a strong desire to be satisfied by something, or the ‘thrill’ that one gets in the pit of their stomach when they are with their spouse. Some equate it with caring, benevolent giving, or sheer emotionalism. On occasion, we use the term very casually and loosely. People express their “love” for a certain kind of food, style of house, color, automobile, fashion, performer, or sports team.
[ Note: There are 12 specific words for love in the Greek language, with four of them used, by far, the most times in the Bible: Agape; Eros; Phileo; and Stergo ].
But the Bible’s definition of love is a bit different. Rather than merely a feeling, an opinion, or a preference, it is something that is ‘unconditional’.
The “love” mentioned in the “Fruit of the Spirit” comes from the Greek word “agape,” which means to ‘willfully’ act in the interest of others, no matter who they are, how we feel, or what it costs (the highest ‘level’ of love). It does not depend on the other person’s performance or desirability. It is sacrificial—it costs you something to love in this way. It is not just giving, but ‘giving up’ for the sake of another. It puts another person’s well-being ahead of our own—not because they ‘deserve’ it or we feel like it, because it’s convenient or comfortable, or because of what they have done for us—but because it’s the way Jesus loves. Our greatest goal should be to do all things with this kind of love. This kind of love is only possible in any of us when it is ‘empowered’ by the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul reveals love’s supreme importance to life. He contrasts love’s value to faith, hope, prophecy, sacrifice, and knowledge—and indirectly with all other ‘gifts’ of God mentioned previously. He does this to emphasize love’s importance, completeness, permanence, and supremacy over all other qualities we consider important to life. He in no way denigrates the other gift’s usefulness to life and God’s purpose, but is adamant that none can compare in importance to love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” [ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ].
Paul goes on to say that, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” [ 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 ]. Paul continues to emphasize that love is the epitome of all virtues: “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony” [ Colossians 3:14 ].
If we really love another person, we cannot possibly ‘injure’ them. Love would immediately stifle any thought that leads to adultery, murder, theft or any form of covetousness—because love does not harm.
There will be a time coming when love will be ‘perfected’ in us (in Heaven), and we will have it in abundance. However, in the meantime, while we are here on earth, we are to ‘pursue’ love: “Let love be your highest goal!” [ 1 Corinthians 14:1 ].
The apostle John also emphasized how important love is—telling us what Jesus said about it: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples” [ John 13:34-35 ].
John continues: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” [ 1 John 4:8-12 ]. Love is the ‘supreme’ desire!
This command to love others cannot be fulfilled unless a person has the Holy Spirit ‘living’ within them. So, for those who have not yet ‘believed’ in Jesus, let me encourage you to do so right now. (A suggested prayer is below, immediately after the “Summary”).
THE ultimate manifestation of “agape” love was shown when Jesus willingly died upon the cross for the sins of mankind. We didn’t deserve this sacrifice, but Jesus gave His life willingly and God the Father gave up His Son to make it possible that we might be ‘saved’ from our sins. Love is the first quality mentioned in the “Fruit of the Spirit” because of its importance.
Paul then tells us where this love comes from: “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” We receive godly love from God, by means of His Spirit.
All this is possible because God, in His love, initiates a relationship with us, grants us repentance, gives us His Spirit, and then, because of His love, takes the lead in sustaining the relationship. “We love each other because God loved us first (1 John 4:19). It should behoove us to earnestly show others the love God has showered upon us!
By developing a ‘relationship’ with God, we come to know Him and receive His love—and in experiencing His love, we become like Him and really get to know Him.
Only by knowing God can we have this kind of love, and only by loving can we know Him, and only by obedience to God will it ‘prove’ our desire to love—keeping His commandments (1 John 5:3). It is the product of God’s Holy Spirit ‘living’ in our ‘hearts’ and our yielding to His guidance. It does not arise naturally within us and frequently requires us to change our will and make sacrifices..
