Let me urge you today to become, as Jesus said, “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8). Think about what it would mean, what changes you would have to make, what habits you’d have to break . . . most of all, what masks you’d have to peel off.

When Jesus spoke of being “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), He emphasized the inner person . . . the motive . . . the “heart.” The phrase does not refer simply to doing the right things but doing the right things for the right reason. Being free from duplicity, hypocrisy, and/or sham. God desires His servants to be “real” people—authentic to the core. The portrait He paints is realistic.

You don’t run through an art gallery; you walk very slowly. You often stop, study the treasured works of art, and take time to appreciate what has been painted. You examine the texture, the technique, the choice and mixture of colors, the subtle as well as the bold strokes of the brush, the shadings. And the more valuable the canvas, the more time and thought it deserves. You may even return to it later for a further and deeper look, especially if you are a student of that particular artist.

The true servant of God possesses an insatiable appetite for what is right, a passionate drive for justice. Spiritually speaking, the servant is engaged in a pursuit of God . . . a hot, restless, eager longing to walk with Him, to please Him. That’s who Jesus referred to when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6).

Truth be told, we may get a false first impression. We may think, Blessed are the weak for they shall become doormats. In our rough and rugged individualism, we think of gentleness as weakness, being soft, and virtually spineless. Not so! The Greek term is extremely colorful, helping us to grasp a correct understanding of why the Lord sees the need for His people to be gentle.

This spirit of humility is very rare in our day of strong-willed, proud-peacock attitudes. The clinched fist has replaced the bowed head. The big mouth and the surly stare now dominate the scene once occupied by the quiet godliness of the “poor in spirit.” How self-righteous we have become! How confident in and of ourselves! And with that attitude, how desperately unhappy we are!

This spirit of humility is very rare in our day of strong-willed, proud-peacock attitudes. The clinched fist has replaced the bowed head. The big mouth and the surly stare now dominate the scene once occupied by the quiet godliness of the “poor in spirit.” How self-righteous we have become! How confident in and of ourselves! And with that attitude, how desperately unhappy we are!

The introduction to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is no doubt the most familiar section of His message (Matthew 5:1–12). Commonly called “The Beatitudes,” this section is the most descriptive word-portrait of a servant ever recorded. Let’s reread these immortal words slowly . . .

The scriptural account of His “Sermon on the Mount” is found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. If I were asked to suggest an overall theme of this grand sermon, it would be “Be different!” Time and again, Jesus states the way things were among the religious types of their day, and then He instructs them to be different.