8 Resolutions Jesus Would Be Happy WithSample

6. Resolve to Have a Pure Heart

We’ve moved from the external to the internal.

From postures of surrender, poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, longing, a hunger for righteousness, and a desire for mercy, Jesus goes even deeper.

He puts His finger right on the heart.

In a world obsessed with appearances, filtered images, curated personas, and spiritual performance, Jesus says the real work happens beneath the surface. The kingdom begins not in what you show, but in who you're becoming.

In the Hebrew mind, the heart wasn’t just where you feel—it was the place where you think, choose, love, and desire.

The center of the self.

The word Jesus uses for pure, katharos, doesn’t mean flawless. It means clean. Undivided. Whole. A heart no longer split between competing loves.

Purity of heart is not about perfectionism. It’s about focus.

Like Søren Kierkegaard said, “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” (1)

And that one thing is God.

As C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.” (2)

To be pure in heart is to live with single-minded devotion, not a heart pulled in two directions, but one fully yielded to the love of God.

For Jesus’ original audience, this was radical.

To “see God” was unthinkable. Scripture had made it clear: “No one can see God and live.” (Exodus 33:20) The temple structure reinforced this distance, layers upon layers, with the Holy of Holies veiled behind a curtain, only accessible once a year.

But now Jesus stands on a hillside and says, the pure in heart, not the priests, not the elite, not the impressive, will see God.

Not just someday, but now.

Not just in heaven, but in everyday life.

That’s the gift of a clean heart, not just moral clarity, but spiritual sight.

When your motives are no longer hijacked by ego, when your desires are no longer fractured by idols, when you stop living for the applause of others, you begin to see God.

You see Him in the mundane and the miraculous…

In your morning coffee, light through the window.

In the unexpected kindness of a stranger.

In the stillness of a prayer when everything else is loud.

Because when the heart is clean, the eyes are clear.

Jesus isn’t asking for performance; He’s inviting intimacy. He’s not blessing those who have never sinned; He’s blessing those who keep coming back to grace.

Those who refuse to fake it.

Who drop their masks.

Who ask God to purify even the good things they do for the wrong reasons.

“These people honor me with their lips,” Jesus once said, “but their hearts are far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8, NIV) The pure in heart aren’t perfect, they’re present. They’re honest. They live integrated lives, where the inner and outer selves are aligned.

And the promise?

“...they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8, NIV)

Jesus is saying, “Blessed are the ones whose hearts are open and undivided, for they will see Me everywhere.”

In a culture that prizes performance, Jesus blesses purity. In a world of filters and façades, He calls us to honesty. And in the end, it’s not the clever, the influential, or the powerful who see God, but the ones whose hearts have been made simple enough to recognize Him when He comes.

Not just later, now. Not just in glory, in the grocery store, the hospital room, the Monday morning commute.

Prayer

Jesus, give me a clean heart. Not a perfect one, but an honest one. Heal the parts of me that are divided. Strip away what’s false. Refine my motives, simplify my desires, and bring me back to love. Help me to see You, in the quiet, in the chaos, in the everyday moments I’d otherwise miss. I want to be someone who lives with an undivided heart. Amen.

Reflection

Today, in your time with God, do a “heart check.” Is there a distraction or hidden sin competing for your devotion? Confess it and re-center on God.

(1) Søren Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, trans. Douglas V. Steere (New York: HarperOne, 1956)

(2) C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (London: The Centenary Press, 1940)