Day 18 — Pure, as He Is Pure

“Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.”

— 1 John 3:2–3 (BSB)

The apostle John was an old man when he wrote these words. He had walked with Jesus, eaten with Him and seen Him alive after He rose from the dead. And he wrote about the greatest day still to come: the day Jesus returns. “We will see Him as He is.” And when we do, “we will be like Him.”

Then John says what that hope does to a person right now: “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.”

What does it mean to be pure in heart?

Something that’s pure is clean and unmixed, like pure water with no dirt in it, or pure gold with nothing else melted in. A pure heart is a heart that isn’t divided. It loves God with everything, and doesn’t let other things muddy it up.

For a guy your age, a pure heart might look like:

• Guarding what you watch. Remember Book 1? Turning your eyes away from worthless things.
• Keeping your words clean. No crude jokes, cruel comments or bad language.
• Respecting girls, and never treating them like objects.
• Being honest, even when no one would know.
• Having real reasons for what you do: doing good things to please God, not just to look good.
• Loving God more than anything else: more than games, sports, money or popularity.

And here’s the amazing part: purity isn’t about earning your way to God. You’re already His son: “we are now children of God.” It’s about getting ready to see your Father. When your heart is clean, you see God more clearly now. You notice Him in your life. You hear Him in His Word. You know Him better. And one day, you’ll see Him face to face.

Nobody has a perfectly pure heart. We all mess up. But Jesus came to make us clean. When we confess our sins, He forgives us and washes our hearts. And His Spirit helps us grow purer day by day.

This week, you’ve learned where wisdom comes from, and how to make wise choices about crushes, money, the crowd, and dares and danger. And today, you’ve learned that the greatest treasure of all is seeing God, and that a pure heart is worth more than anything else.

A true story: Jim Elliot was a young American who loved God with his whole heart. When he was a young man, he wrote in his journal words that people still remember: he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim believed that the things of this world, like money, fame and comfort, can’t be kept forever, but knowing God lasts forever. So he gave his life to take the good news of Jesus to a people in the forests of Ecuador who had never heard it. Jim was killed when he was only twenty-eight. But because of his faithfulness, and the brave love of his wife Elisabeth, many of those very people came to know Jesus. Jim’s heart wasn’t divided. He knew what was really worth it. You can read his whole story in Brave for God.

Think about it: What are some things that try to crowd God out of your heart? What would it look like to love Him more than those things?

Try this: Ask God to show you one thing in your life that muddies your heart. Then choose one step to put Him first again.

Dear God, I want to see You. Give me a pure heart. Forgive me for the ways I’ve let other things crowd You out, and wash me clean. Help me love You more than anything else, and know what’s really worth it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.