The heart is purified not by human strength, but by the grace of God, received with humility and preserved through faithful striving.
Many wish to change their outward actions, yet few seek to transform the source from which those actions flow. And yet the fruit always follows the root. When the heart is purified, words are purified; when the heart is illumined, deeds are illumined. God desires not merely outward correctness, but a heart that belongs entirely to Him.
Purity of heart does not mean the absence of struggle. Often those who battle most intensely with thoughts learn most deeply to rely on grace. Purity is not the condition of never being tempted, but of continually turning the heart toward Christ in the midst of temptation.
Do not lose courage when you see your weaknesses. More dangerous than seeing sin is being blind to it. God sometimes reveals the depths of the heart precisely so that a person may cease trusting in himself and begin trusting in His mercy.
Guard your heart more carefully than any treasure. From it prayer is born, from it love flows, and within it Christ desires to make His dwelling. A pure heart is not one that has never known struggle, but one that never ceases returning to God.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
