Bible Reading: Matthew 5:8

[From the teaching of the Beatitudes by Jesus to the crowds].

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

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My copy of the Bible has this footnote which is accurate and I wish to emphasize to all. "The clean of heart: those free from sin and single-hearted."

Being clean of heart does not just mean avoiding dirty deeds and thoughts. Being clean of heart means avoiding all sin AND maintaining your heart in a condition so that it has only one, single loyalty. You cannot be duplicitous (serving two masters or having dual moralities) and be free from sin, and in neither case can you then see God. What Jesus is saying is that to "see God," both in life and after passing, in eternal life in heaven, one must have a clean heart that is free of sin and only serves the simple and pure purposes of God.

When one focuses on God above all, for God's sake alone, one does not abandon or short change loved ones or family; one then raises them all with him to a higher level of love and attentiveness than he or she did when they put other people or things ahead of God. The clean of heart can "see" (think of seeing as comprehending and accessing) God and therefore the grace of God is fully available to this pure and cleanly "open to God" heart.

People today use a mental shorthand that robs them of understanding the teachings of Jesus and the instructions of God. Many read the phrase "clean of heart" and unconsciously substitute "a guilt free conscience," since that's how modern man and woman think, which is incorrect. Lots of people sin with a totally free conscience, and lots of people have divided loyalties with a totally free conscience (often saying they "have to do it because of circumstances.") That is NOT the same as a clean heart.

I hope this helps. It better... time's a wasting.