“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
The construction of the house of happiness and my personal diligence in this process lead to my being given a brick called “I am pure.” And I already know for myself that this is true, because with all my heart I long for such purity of heart and do everything possible to keep myself unspotted from the world and to work out my salvation in the fear of God.
Purity of heart is the harmony of all my virtues, light, knowledge, desires, thoughts, and feelings with God’s will, revealed to me by the Holy Spirit through my personal relationship with Jesus.
God sees my desire to have a pure heart and to guard it from the corrupting influence of the world, and He gives me His blessing and power from above, drawing my mind to the true Source of Light—His beloved Son.
Some people are kind by nature. With their mother’s milk they absorbed all that is beautiful, carried diligent habits with them from their parents’ home, live with purity of thought and feeling, and dearly love to do good by doing kind and pleasant things for those around them. I have often met such people, and it seemed to me that they were deeply religious and enjoyed close fellowship with Jesus, for the purity of their conduct was plainly visible. I wanted to rejoice with them in the beauty of the Salvation they had found in Jesus. But to my surprise, I would hear a modest refusal to discuss this subject and a firm unwillingness to enter into a conversation about God’s love. They made it clear to me that they were very good and kind and did not need God, since they knew many people with evil manners who called themselves believers. I always felt sad for such people.
This brings the following parable to mind. In my home there are disobedient children who constantly break and damage things, sometimes rebel against all my instruction, and do not like to put things in order. There is also a dog that loves everyone, is always obedient, gladly follows every command, and senses my mood. Which of them do you think will be my heir? Certainly not the dog, although anything can happen in this world.
God loves kind people with clean hands and pure thoughts, but He gave the world His Son, and by believing in Him I receive a new heart and the gift of Eternal life. The holy blood of Christ, which was shed for my sins, gives me the right to salvation, and I receive this gift through my faith, even if I am the most corrupt person. God accepts me in His beloved Son just as I am, but He does not leave me that way forever; He begins the process of cleansing me.
To say that a pure heart is my own personal possession is to insult God and take all the glory for myself, diminishing the part of the Most High in this work. It is God Who gives me a new heart, and it is He Who writes His laws upon it, giving me the mind of a righteous person. Yet all of this becomes possible through my consent, personal participation, and cooperation with the Creator. More than anything, the Lord desires to transform my heart, for from it flow all the springs of a pure and happy life. My conduct, in turn, reflects everything that is within my soul.
To have a pure heart is a special happiness for every person. It is especially joyful when you have peace with God and live in friendly fellowship with Jesus, asking Him for special blessings for the new day; when you immediately respond to every temptation that tries to enter your life with firm resistance and prayer for help from above.
Purity of heart depends directly on the strength and integrity of the entire structure of my “house of happiness.” Any damage, deficiency, or absence of even one brick brings unrest to my soul and defiles my conscience. My house then becomes vulnerable to the attacks of the powers of darkness. But I am also encouraged that I am not the only one overseeing the building process. The Lord Himself shows me what deserves my attention.
From the very beginning of my work, He erected a wonderful roof above me. It rests upon four pillars connected to the Foundation and, like a covering, protects me from bad weather outside while I gather materials and put up the walls.
When I see that something is lacking in my structure, I begin asking the Chief Designer to give me the necessary materials, to create in me a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within me. And the answer comes.
When I have purity of heart, I know that it is there because my perception is sharpened, and I react quickly to everything that is alien to God. Where everything is clean and bright, one has little desire to litter, and every speck of dirt becomes noticeable. Purity of heart attracts good thoughts and produces pure feelings. This cannot be hidden.
People sometimes sarcastically call me a holy man, a righteous man, a little angel without wings, or a fanatic. But I take these as compliments and quietly rejoice that, even in this way, people recognize that I am different from the world.
I become pure before God when I open my heart to agape love and ask that this gift of Heaven live within me. Love knows how to bring purity. It very quickly fills every part of my house, dissolving and removing every impurity and allowing nothing defiling or dangerous to enter the heart. It teaches me good deeds and dearly loves to perform them.
My purity of heart toward those around me comes from a soul overflowing with love. Love thinks no evil, but constantly thinks about the happiness of others, devising something interesting that lies within my power to do. And there are good deeds that those close to me will never discover. These are my prayers for them. I plead with God to give a particular friend a special blessing and to intervene in that person’s life in a special way. The Lord listens and answers, and later I see the answer and rejoice. Often I do not even say that I am praying for that person. Prayer from a pure heart has great power, for Isaiah 44:26 says of God: “That confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers.” A pure heart is pleasing to the Lord when it intercedes in prayer for the needs of friends and neighbors. I cannot imagine what would happen to the world if God’s children stopped praying for it and for those who live in it.
The greatest secret of my pure heart is that it is very closely connected to the pure heart of Jesus, drinks from His springs of living water, and feeds upon Him as the Bread of Life. My love knows the voice of Christ and senses His nearness. It does not allow me to part from Him. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Yet I live by faith in Him.
I long to share this purity. How I wish that the purity of Jesus’ heart could be reflected from my heart and become purity in the heart of my neighbor. Sadly, this path can only be demonstrated; each person must choose it for himself.
My eyes of faith see the invisible God, Who takes part in my life, Who preserves me from evil, Who protects me on every side, and Who prepares me for a personal, face-to-face meeting with Himself, so that I may behold His Face forever and continually reflect His purity and glory. This path is open to the pure in heart because Jesus said so, and it is true.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Matthew 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:5–6; Proverbs 20:9; 22:11; Ezekiel 36:22–31; Jeremiah 31:33; Psalm 51:10; 73:1–3; 1 Chronicles 29:17–19; Luke 8:15; 1 Peter 1:22–23