Blessed are the pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. – Matthew 5v8

It seems like all of the things that Jesus calls blessed are things that the world looks down on.

There is a word that none of us like. Though it had a noble start the word ‘prude’ has now become an insult. Nobody wants to be a prude. We all like to have a little bit of worldly wise-ness. Everyone wants to be just a little bit of a ‘bad girl’ or ‘bad boy’ and everyone seems to want to hang around them. Nobody likes being a ‘holier’ or a ‘prude’ or a ‘better than thou.’

Now, that might be true if a person is a hypocrite or judgemental or putting on a show that might indeed really be a problem.

But we need to realise that purity is not a virtue to be ashamed of. Purity honours God. True prudishness, in its original sense of ‘wisdom or prudence’ is a virtue, not something to be embarrassed about.

The verse says ‘blessed are the pure in heart.’ That purity, which allows us to see God, only comes at salvation when we receive the purity of Christ. There is no way to be truly pure on our own.

Our part comes in the practical outworking of that inner purity. If our hearts are pure our lives should reflect it. Outward purity should be our goal, not something we are ashamed of. If our heart is right and we are only seeking our own godly purity without feeing superior then we continue to pursue it. If our hearts our right eventually people will see that we are genuine.

When that happens they may begin to see Christ in us, and isn’t that our purpose after all?