Teaching the Beatitudes: The Way to a Pure Heart
Bible Verse
“God blesses those people whose hearts are pure. They will see him!” CEV Matthew 5:8
Some years ago, we learned that our son stumbled upon inappropriate online content. He was curious about something he had heard at school, and instead of asking us, he asked Google—which led him down an unfortunate rabbit hole. Thankfully, my husband had installed family-safety software that curbed our child’s search and alerted us. The whole situation was detected, squashed, and dealt with in one afternoon. On the scope of what the internet has to offer, what he found was pretty harmless.
However, it was pretty devastating in the scope of his innocent, young heart. I was heartbroken because something really valuable was compromised—his innocence, the purity of his heart. Tearfully, he admitted that he felt the same way.
Dear parent, I know that you, like me, want to protect your kids’ purity. Proverbs 4:23 urges us to guard our hearts “above all else….” That afternoon, I felt that the damage was done. Sometimes, we all let our guards down, and the world comes rushing in, polluting our children’s hearts (and ours too). What can we possibly do then? Jesus offered hope.
Purifying Polluted Springs
Emotions in check. We must control our emotions before we can address our kids’ missteps. Once I had quieted my heart and asked God for wisdom and perspective, Jesus reminded me that he has overcome the world (John 16:33). He can restore what has been stolen and is good at refining and sanctifying.
Hearts refocused. Our next step is to zoom in on God. Once my heart was refocused on Christ, my son and I had an honest conversation about how impurity prevents us from having a meaningful connection with God. We prayed a prayer of confession together and asked God to restore what was stolen and help us resist future temptations.
Here are a few short prayers and verses to help kids (and parents) refocus their hearts:
Jesus, help me to look for you and your things today (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus, help me be wise to put a guard before my eyes, my ears, and my heart (Proverbs 4:23).
Jesus, keep my mind, heart, hands, and feet zoomed in on you (Matthew 5:8).
Also, make Philippians 4:8 part of your household vocabulary.
Now, when I think back to that day, I recall the comfort of God’s presence as we walked our child back from a poor choice, the warmth of his love as he cared for all our hearts, and the lightness as he lifted off the weight of sin and restored us.
Not all the bells and whistles, family safety software, and parental controls can protect our kids’ innocent hearts from the onslaught of undesirable information. The way to a pure heart is a well-guarded heart entirely focused on and set apart for God and a willing spirit that quickly returns to the Father after mistakes.
Want to do a deep dive? Check out Family Fire's article Practices to Strengthen Our Relationship with Jesus.
Amanda Smith
Amanda Smith is a high school English teacher, writer, and poet. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two children. When she is not teaching or writing, she likes to do pottery, read loads of books, and bike the tree-lined roads of her town. You can find more of Amanda’s writing at https://www.amandasmithwrites.com and her blogs about the craft of writing for children at http://www.24carrotwriting.com.
