The sixth Beatitude

The Greek word for pure is katharos, from which we get our English word catharsis. Psychiatrists talk about catharsis as the cleansing of a person’s destructive attitudes. The biblical word refers to a cleansing of all impurities from your inner spirit – impurities that include evil tendencies, evil thoughts, evil desires, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life (see 1 John 2:16). To be pure is to have all these impurities removed so that you might reflect the character of Christ Jesus. One of the main plagues in our society today, and even in many churches, is double mindedness. We have mixed motives, a divided mind and heart. We must put an end to segregating our lives, which causes us to speak and act one way around fellow Christians and another way around those who don’t know Christ. To be pure in heart is to have integrity – to have your heart, your head, and your hands fully integrated and aligned with the commands of God. To be a person of integrity is to say what you believe and then do what you say. Jesus said very plainly, “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24 KJV). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” The pure in heart see God’s loving heart and mercy in every passage of scripture. They see God in every event of history, shaping and molding circumstances to serve His higher purposes. And they see God in the midst of their own difficulties, pain, and suffering. When your heart’s desire is to see and know God better, He will fulfill that desire.