28 August | Youth
«Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.» Matthew 5:8
There are two types of purity: inner and outer. Inner purity has to do with the heart, that is, it refers to the thoughts and feelings we choose to have. The exterior has to do with our behavior: things we do or do not do by personal choice.
Paul writes: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” (Eph. 5:3, NIV).
Impurity is like poison. All it takes is a small dose to kill your relationship with God and others. If outer purity is what people see, inner purity is a matter between you and God. Inner purity is what you think and feel, what goes on in your heart. The exterior is the result of what happens inside. Jesus warned that “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19). Behavior is impure because the heart is impure. Before we worry about the outside, we must worry about the state of our hearts.
The boy returned from school, left his things in his room, and went to wash his hands. His mother announced that lunch was served and, without her asking, he went to wash his hands again. The family sat around the table, and the father prayed, giving thanks for the meal. After prayer, the boy ran to the bathroom and washed his hands again. The mother was already intrigued by her son’s behavior, but she did not say anything.
Halfway through the meal, the boy got up once again and went to wash his hands. The mother asked: “What is going on? Why are you washing your hands so often?” The boy said that he had fought with a classmate at school. The teacher separated them, reprimanded them, and showed them a biblical text: “and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9).
We may even laugh at his childish innocence, but we must not forget that clean hands come from a pure heart. The young man who has a pure heart has pure thoughts, his attitudes are pure, his words are pure, his relationship is pure, his intentions are pure. Allow God to transform your heart, and then you will be pure from the inside and out.