"Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God"
Until last night, I was always puzzled by this particular scripture:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
Matthew 5:8
This verse always seemed very generic to me. What was it really saying, if anything? I figured it had to be saying something important, as these words were spoken directly by Jesus as part of the beatitudes during his famous Sermon on the Mount.
Last night I arrived at the answer, but from the reverse perspective. I wasn't even thinking about this scripture at the time. In fact, I had been contemplating the nature of forgiveness. I had come to the conclusion that forgiving a fellow human is critical for one's relationship with God. This is because holding onto feelings of anger and resentment will surely cause a barrier to communicating with God. I realized that if I constantly held anger and resentment toward someone who had hurt me, it was equivalent to saying that I was choosing the negative things involving that person, above God! Instead, if I forgive someone, it is equivalent to saying, "God - I choose you over that person and the negative things that happened".
I hope I am putting this clearly here, because it is clear to me. My motive for forgiving a person is NOT because of anything intrinsically 'good' in him (or in me) but simply so as not to let feelings of anger and resentment (which God doesn't like) get in the way of my relationship between me and God. It is a way of saying, "God - I put you first!"
I then realized that if someone had anger and resentment (or other long-held issues that God doesn't like) barring the way between them and God, it would cloud their 'lens' as they view God. How can we truly expect to see God with all this garbage standing in between? Only by removing those grudges can we see God. And now we have come full circle:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
Matthew 5:8
If you found this post interesting, you might also like these related posts on this blog:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
Matthew 5:8
This verse always seemed very generic to me. What was it really saying, if anything? I figured it had to be saying something important, as these words were spoken directly by Jesus as part of the beatitudes during his famous Sermon on the Mount.
Last night I arrived at the answer, but from the reverse perspective. I wasn't even thinking about this scripture at the time. In fact, I had been contemplating the nature of forgiveness. I had come to the conclusion that forgiving a fellow human is critical for one's relationship with God. This is because holding onto feelings of anger and resentment will surely cause a barrier to communicating with God. I realized that if I constantly held anger and resentment toward someone who had hurt me, it was equivalent to saying that I was choosing the negative things involving that person, above God! Instead, if I forgive someone, it is equivalent to saying, "God - I choose you over that person and the negative things that happened".
I hope I am putting this clearly here, because it is clear to me. My motive for forgiving a person is NOT because of anything intrinsically 'good' in him (or in me) but simply so as not to let feelings of anger and resentment (which God doesn't like) get in the way of my relationship between me and God. It is a way of saying, "God - I put you first!"
I then realized that if someone had anger and resentment (or other long-held issues that God doesn't like) barring the way between them and God, it would cloud their 'lens' as they view God. How can we truly expect to see God with all this garbage standing in between? Only by removing those grudges can we see God. And now we have come full circle:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
Matthew 5:8
If you found this post interesting, you might also like these related posts on this blog:
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