Purity of Heart

Donna Caesar – Port of Spain Church of Christ, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies

When you hear the phrase, purity of heart – what comes to mind?

I know that there are many aspects of purity that we could look at as we strive to make it to heaven (Psalm 15 is a good place to start – you can look it up) but I want to focus on the topic of purity of heart towards each other and other people.

 Is it even possible?

Following are a couple of answers I found on Quora.com when I asked the question online, “what does it mean to be pure in heart?”

“Being pure in heart means that your heart has no dual nature and you are free from any kind of hypocrisy and you say what you really think in your heart. A person who thinks good about others and has no hidden motives is the only person who can say what he/she believes wholeheartedly.”

 Here’s another answer:

It’s very difficult to find someone with a “pure heart!” I think it mostly applies to fictional characters, as morality out in the real world is more complicated and we’re all a little bit flawed. The idea of someone in reality with perfect morals is appealing, yet, unobtainable. Anyways, having a pure heart is all about being immune to corruption and capable of resisting “evil” influences. While the people around them can be tempted by power, fame, or money, the person with a pure heart refuses to succumb.

So, basically, they will always do the right thing for the greater good, even when they’re surrounded by negativity they never lose their moral compass or their idealism. And they’re usually pacifists, really warm and compassionate towards others. They inspire everyone around them and radiate love and light! It’s a common trope in fiction, I find these kinds of characters very lovable, great role models for kids (and even adults!)

See Fictional Examples: Leslie Knope, Captain America, Sailor Moon, Luke Skywalker, Steven Universe, and pretty much every Disney Princess!

This person is basically saying that having a pure heart is impossible!

Do we believe this?

What does God say?

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.

Sounds like God thinks we CAN be pure in heart. In an article I read on Bible.org (https://bible.org/seriespage/12-blessed-are-pure-heart-matthew-58#P1281_443776) on Matt 5:8, I read the following:

               “In his book, The Sermon on the Mount, Kent Hughes quotes a nineteenth-century Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenev, who said, ‘I do not know what the heart of a bad man is like. But I do know what the heart of a good man is like. And it is terrible.’”

Yes, it’s possible

We can have a pure heart!

Although it is impossible for us to have a pure heart in and of ourselves, we can have a pure heart by the grace of God. What is impossible for man is possible for God. A pure heart is a gift from God, and it comes by new birth, by a new creation, and the Spirit living in us.

This is something I am trying hard to work on intensely and deliberately right now and of course, you know our God will always present opportunities for me to learn the necessary lessons, don’t we? 

Let me set the scene for you.

     My work Contract may not be renewed.

     It seems they want to downgrade the post I am in.

     I got angry with decision-makers. Lots of stuff started going through my mind...accusing someone in my mind whom I thought was helping my boss to make this decision...” I thought she was my friend, I thought she had my back. Why don’t they “live and let live?” On and on I went in my mind, and as my mind churned, I got angrier and angrier. Upset!

 I did not have a pure heart in that moment.

 As I continued to stew about the unfairness of these people days later, I remembered a time in the past when I had been talking to a sister who was struggling at that time with negative thoughts toward people in her mind. I had shown her Philippians 4:8 and it brought me back. (Let’s read it now)

 Finally, … sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 The same questions I had asked my sister back then, I now asked of myself...Can you read minds? Do you know other people's thoughts?

--No. I cannot! No, I do not!

And since I do not have that ability, I recognized that I must give people the benefit of the doubt. Easier said than done, right?

 Wiktionary Definition of Benefit of the Doubt: A favorable judgement given in the absence of full evidence.

I am sure I am not the only one who has this struggle. Let’s go on this journey together to gain purity of heart towards one other here in Church and all the others with whom we interact at work, at school, at home – wherever we may be.

Why is it so hard, do you think, to give people the benefit of the doubt?

I think there are three types of minds that prevent us from having purer hearts and thinking the good about people first.

1. A Hurt Mind

Yes, I was hurt. Feeling undervalued. My work was being devalued so I lashed out, looking for scapegoats. When we are hurt, we think no one is looking out for our interests so we have to do it. We fight God for control and instead, take control of our own minds because we want to think what we want. In my moment of hurt, I didn’t want to hear the Scripture, take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. I wanted to blame and bash because it felt good to vent in the moment.

I know it was the Holy Spirit Who spoke to me when he put the thought in my head, why don't you pray and ask God to make them see the real value of the post? To make them change their minds even if not for me, for them to not hurt the Division by cutting this very valuable resource? Pray to have a purer heart towards the people you think are working against you? Remember God can do anything! He is the real boss of your life, Donna. So I listened; and started to pray just like this. It changed my perspective completely!

How about you? How are you doing in this area? Is there a sister, a brother, your Family Group or Bible Talk Leader, a coworker, a family member you think has hurt you in some way, and you can’t seem to stop having negative thoughts about them? Pray; then pray some more; change your mind set about them; then go talk to him or her about it (if you think it is necessary) or need to clear the air. How often does this happen with you? Is it something you are working on to overcome?

Please read again, Philippians 4:8:

  Finally, …sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The second thing I think that keeps us from having purer hearts towards people is

 2. An Accusing Mind

Accusing minds often operate on perceptions, not facts. (there is an example I think of, of a sister who had negative thoughts about me for years, while I was walking around clueless). Let me state my intention:  I will tell you what I feel to your face-- hopefully gently and lovingly-- so you never have to wonder. Like Nathanael in John 1:47, I hope Jesus would say the same of me, that there is “nothing false” in me, no intentional deceit. What you see is what you get. If you have a problem with me, or I hurt you inadvertently, unknowingly, I want to be the first to apologize if I know about it…remember I cannot read your mind. So please come to me, give me the benefit of the doubt.

How about you, sister? Who are you accusing in your mind? Are you thinking that they don't care about you because they don't call? Perhaps when the thought comes, you could replace it with a call to see how they are doing? Don’t entertain accusing thoughts like… "They call themselves friend, FGL/BTL, shepherd, church leader and they don’t even know what's going on with me!”  “When she said that, it sounded like she was talking about me!” Or “I saw how she looked at me! I won’t tell her about my need because she must think I always want something...I saw her expression last time!” Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Evil One is having a field day because we may be overthinking everything and come to the wrong conclusions! Let's read again –

⁸ Finally, …sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The third mind I think that holds us back from having purer hearts towards people is:

3. An Idle Mind

You know the saying, the devil finds work for idle hands, well, I believe that nasty creature has work ready for idle minds too. When our minds are not busy with focusing on loving God with everything and loving our neighbours as ourselves, our idle minds tend to go into the wrong places. We begin to overthink every interaction with others, think sarcastically about others’ motives because we have too much time on our hands, perhaps. Idle minds think things like: She’s only doing that to look good in front of others. Why does she always have to speak before everyone else? Be in everything? Why doesn’t he give other people a chance? How come they never ask me? How come they ask the same people over and over again? Are ‘we’ not good enough? Some of us might even find ourselves criticizing the Church as a body and becoming resentful while offering no helpful critique along with solutions. Meanwhile, again, back at the ranch, instead of thinking these things, we could call and volunteer ourselves, so that now we would be busy preparing a lesson, learning a song we can sing at a devotional, writing a poem to share at a devotional.

Sisters -- to fight having hurt minds, accusing minds and idle minds we must fill up our minds with good thoughts, yes, about everyone.  Let the words "benefit of the doubt" be a mantra in our heads, we can never be 100% sure in our minds that people are guilty of the things we think about them and even if they are -- let’s love them still.

Some Practical Suggestions

• Learn Philippians 4:8 and be deliberate about obeying this scripture
• Be encouraged that every time you have a victory in this area you "will see God". (Matthew 5:8)
• If there is anyone you have accused in your mind, give them a call to see how they are managing life and share that you miss talking to them.
• If you find your mind idling and starting to think bad about others, stop. Say a prayer, then look for good in the situation or how you can change your mindset.
• Talk about it to someone you can vent with but who can help you see the better picture. Not someone who will say, “Yes girl, fire bun dem!! Nuh badda wid dem, dem nuh good at all!” * (you get my drift).
• Pray for anyone you have a bad thought about
• Live, love, laugh and free your heart to become pure, so God can shine through you.

 One last time:

  Finally, …sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Thanks for reading. Much love, my sisters.

 *in Caribbean dialect, roughly:  fire burn them! There’s nothing but bad in them. They’re no good at all!

Editor’s’ note:

We want to assure our readers that we think there is, in our opinion, a bit more work to do in some cases, in the battle for purity of heart toward one another in addition to the good, practical suggestions our dear sister Donna offers us here. While Philippians 4:8 is always true, and is good medicine for our minds, we acknowledge that sometimes we also are dealing with a broken heart as well. For our hearts to heal we need some other Scriptural instruction – such as learning to lament before God deeply and honestly. We’re grateful to Donna for this encouragement to be aware of the condition our thought-life. We pray to heed her call to examine our thoughts, taking responsibility for whatever we can, and to practice giving one another the benefit of the doubt! Great stuff!

p.s. if you find your heart resonating with Philippians 4:8 – you may enjoy a series of books and workbooks by Christian author Tommy Newberry, such as, “The 4:8 Principle: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life.”

Donna Caesar