Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

1. When is it difficult for you to live out in your actions what you believe in your heart? Why the difficulty in those settings?

2. Read Matthew 5:3-8. In your own words, how does the 6th beatitude (v8) relate to the ones before it?

3. “Pure in heart’ may refer to an inward purity vs outward or ritual purity.
   Read Matt 23:25-28. What would it look like for these Pharisees and scribes to heed Jesus’ instruction? What does it look like for us? How can you tell if a person whose life is outwardly correct is truly pure in heart?

4. “Pure in heart” can also be thought of as righteous cleanliness vs sinful defilement, which affects our standing before a holy God.
   Read Psalm 24:3-4 and Hebrews 10:21-22. How do we get our hearts pure before God? What keeps people from drawing near to God?

5. A third way of thinking about the '“Pure in heart” is in terms of a singleness or integrity of devotion and desire.
   Read Psalm 86:11-12. How many times does David reference the Lord (by name or pronoun - ‘you, your,’ etc) in these two verses? What does that tell you about his focus? What does he mean by the prayer, “Unite my heart to fear your name”?

6. Think of someone you know who is pure in heart. What are the distinguishing marks of that person’s life?

7. Read 1 John 3:1-3. What do we learn in these verses about the promise of seeing God? What do we learn about the connection between that promise and personal purity?