Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Our relationship with God is the most satisfying thing in our life. Jesus tells us that it is those who have purity in the inner man who will see (perceive, recognize, and experience) God. Yet, we all face continuous pressures to keep us from purity of heart. From the outside we have temptations, wrong philosophy, deception and lies, false theology, relationship problems, impure visual images, greed, hatred and hypocrisy. From the inside we face our own sinful nature, emotional confusion and destructive thought patterns. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The quality of our lives depends on our purity in heart because God is without sin and will not have a relationship with those who have sin in their hearts.
Purity of heart means singleness of heart. Thus, purity in heart refers to sincerity, freedom from falsehood. The whole life, public and private, of the person who is pure in heart is transparent before God and men. There is no duplicity, either with God or other people. This person’s inner man, including thoughts and motives, is pure, unmixed with anything devious, ulterior or base. He/she is without guile, without hypocrisy.
C.H. Spurgeon described the character of the one with clean hands and a pure heart: “His conduct is not conformed to custom or expediency, but to one consistent, immutable, standard of duty. Take this man into a court of justice, and call on him to testify, and he will not bear false witness. Give him the charge of untold treasures, he will not steal. Trust him with the dearest interests of yourself or family, you are safe, because he has a living principle of truth and integrity in his bosom. He is as worthy of confidence in the dark as at noonday; for he is a moral man, not because reputation or interest demands it, not because the eye of public observation is fixed upon him, but because the love and fear of God have predominant ascendancy in his heart.”
The quality of our lives involves careful navigation through pressures from without and pressures from within. In order to walk in integrity before God, maintain a pure inner life and you will see God clearly, who is our source of life.