PURE IN HEART

Jesus said: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Mt. 5:8

Apostle John stated that hatred blinds eyes, so that a person who hates people walks in darkness 1 John 5:11

James states that where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. James 3:16.

Hosea 4:11 says that whoredom and wine take away the heart.

Jesus said that if our eye is evil, our whole body shall be full of darkness. Mt. 6:23.

These Scriptures teach us the effects of our thought life, and attitude patterns.

If they concerned only unsaved people, that would be bad enough. But Belivers can fall into similar traps.

If we opine that others doctrines are wrong, we can become so negative that our heart becomes hard, and if we harbor strife towards them, then we are adversely affected, per James 3:16.

This does not say that we ought to compromise on bad doctrine. There are many false doctrines, religions, and ideologies. We must reject them, but we must not fall into the trap of becoming so negative that EVERY body is wrong but "me"!

We need to know how to live in the world, in which there is so much that is wrong, according to God's Word.

Among believers, Jesus commanded us to love one another. John 15:12. If we obey Him, we will not become hardened and blinded by negatives, strifes, hatreds, rejection or self righteousness. The value of love is that it works NO ill to his neighbor. Rom.13:10. Love suffers long and is kind, love envies not. 1 Cor.13:4.

Love, therefore, keeps our hearts from those things that pollute and blind us. The comfort of love enables us to be likeminded, of one accord, of one mind. Phil.2:1-2.

There is an easy tendency to get impatient with those who don't see things like we do. But each of us are at some degree of maturity, and we have to allow each other to grow up in the Lord. The tradgedy is that some never grow up, but stagnate at one level of spiritual understanding.

Spiritual stagnation, or even spiritual death, are dangers of hardening our hearts by strife, envy, ill will, and rejection of other believers. Gal.5:15. We have to let Jesus be the Head of the Body! He will deal with those who are in error. He deals with us, doesn't He?

Let us remember that all of us see through a glass, darkly, now. But the time is coming, if we are faithfull, when we shall see clearly, and understand even as we are known. Lord, hasten the day!

Therefore, let each of us be faithful, and walk in the light that God has given us. God is love, and God is Light. In Him is no darkness at all.