Integrity (6 of 8)
Series: The Attitudes that Bless: The Beatitudes
Terry J. Hallock
Matthew 5:8
October 22, 2000
This Beatitude is often popularly interpreted as meaning "Blessed are those who don't engage in immoral thought or behavior." Or as we used to say, "I don't smoke and I don't chew and I don't go with girls who do." Clean moral behavior is certainly one result of purity of heart, but it is not the cause.
The late Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard captured the heart of this Beatitude - this attitude that brings blessing - when he wrote, "Purity of heart is to will one thing". That one thing which the pure in heart will is to do the will of God. The Greek word for "pure" in Matthew 5:8 confirms this meaning of the 6th Beatitude. That word is "katharos" meaning "clean, pure, and clear". As we shared with the children a few moments ago, if the pure in heart were orange juice they would be 100% pure Florida orange juice with no additives or fillers. The pure in heart are 100% pure God seekers with no competing desires mixed in. Their ultimate desire is to seek, serve and please God.
This does not mean that the pure in heart retreat to an isolated existence on some lonely mountaintop contemplating their navel 24 hours a day. Like other people they engage in the daily routine of the mundane and monotonous. They buy groceries, go to the hardware store, balance their check book, do their laundry, pay their bills, mow the ...
Series: The Attitudes that Bless: The Beatitudes
Terry J. Hallock
Matthew 5:8
October 22, 2000
This Beatitude is often popularly interpreted as meaning "Blessed are those who don't engage in immoral thought or behavior." Or as we used to say, "I don't smoke and I don't chew and I don't go with girls who do." Clean moral behavior is certainly one result of purity of heart, but it is not the cause.
The late Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard captured the heart of this Beatitude - this attitude that brings blessing - when he wrote, "Purity of heart is to will one thing". That one thing which the pure in heart will is to do the will of God. The Greek word for "pure" in Matthew 5:8 confirms this meaning of the 6th Beatitude. That word is "katharos" meaning "clean, pure, and clear". As we shared with the children a few moments ago, if the pure in heart were orange juice they would be 100% pure Florida orange juice with no additives or fillers. The pure in heart are 100% pure God seekers with no competing desires mixed in. Their ultimate desire is to seek, serve and please God.
This does not mean that the pure in heart retreat to an isolated existence on some lonely mountaintop contemplating their navel 24 hours a day. Like other people they engage in the daily routine of the mundane and monotonous. They buy groceries, go to the hardware store, balance their check book, do their laundry, pay their bills, mow the ...
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