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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8
The second beatitude on our journey through the Easter story is not actually the second beatitude, but rather the fifth in the series as preached by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount. So why this beatitude to reflect the next part of the story to Easter Sunday?
With the first post in the series, we addressed the Passover meal shared between Jesus and his disciples. Perhaps when you shared the story with your little ones, you spoke of the friendship between them all. Maybe you told your children about how Jesus shared himself with his disciples through the bread and wine. The friendship and comradery that is present at the beginning of the Passover meal comes to a halt during this second part of the story. Before we get to the story, though, we should talk about what it means to be pure in heart.
Most believe that by pure in heart, one is free from guilt or shame. A pure heart would have no hidden motives as they dedicate all of their actions towards God and the desire to please God. But guilt and shame are complex emotions for children to comprehend. They are emotions we have to be careful about when explaining them to little hearts and minds.
Children begin to feel guilt between the ages of 3 and 5. They may begin to understand more complex emotions and how others are affected by their actions. They will see when their actions make someone happy and when their actions make someone sad or angry. Most children strive to make their parents happy, and so that feeling of guilty when they do something they know they did something they shouldn’t and that it won’t make us happy begins to emerge.
There are several scenarios based on your child’s age that you could use to explain guilt. Personally, I really like the example from Kids of Integrity, so I’m going to use it here.
Discuss with your kids
If there was a plate of delicious, fresh-from-the-oven cookies on the counter, calling your child’s name, and they decided to take one before dinner, even though they know they shouldn’t have sweets before dinner, how would they feel? Would the cookie taste as good as if all the cookies were shared by the family? How would their sibling feel if they didn’t get a cookie because there weren’t enough now?
Guilt is the feeling we get when we know we’ve done something we shouldn’t. Guilt can make things unenjoyable. We can feel guilt when we know we may have hurt someone else.
During the Passover meal between Jesus and his disciples, He revealed that one of the disciples was going to betray him. This means that one of the disciples was going to do something that hurt Jesus. When Judas realized it was him, he felt guilty that he hurt his friend.
Sometimes it’s tempting to do something you shouldn’t. Sometimes it may seem like you could just sneak something, like a cookie, but you will know in your heart that it was wrong. Jesus said that those who are pure in heart are blessed. If you are pure in heart, you dedicate your actions to God and you try not to hurt others.
When we are pure in heart, Jesus tells us that we will see God. We can see God in the good things in our lives. We can see God when we see a beautiful sunrise or sunset. We feel God when we hug our family and friends. We can hear God when we hear laughter. We can see God in the things we are thankful for.
Questions to ask
- Have you ever done something and felt guilty afterwards?
- How did you ask for forgiveness?
- Do you think God forgives us when we feel guilty because we did something wrong?
- What should we do if we make a mistake?
- Do you think we are always pure in heart? What can we do to be more pure in heart?
- What are some of the things you see God in?
Activities for those who wish to be pure in heart
- Dedicate a portion of your day, every day, to thanking God for all that you have.
- Spend time doing an activity that is centered on remembering Jesus and what God sacrificed for us.
- Attend church on Sunday. This seems simple, but spending this time focusing on God will help cleanse your heart.
- Have some alone time that is peaceful and reflective. Spending some time in your own thoughts can be revealing and can help create a discussion as to how you would like to become a better person. Sometimes the silences are when children will speak the most. When we stop talking, stop playing on our phones, stop rushing, we take the time to just listen to our children, they will reveal the worries and guilt that are on their hearts. Reassure them that they are loved by God and that God will bring light to their hearts.
- Be quick to forgive. The Bible says that it is not our place to judge, it is only God’s place to be the ultimate judge. Often the negative feelings from not forgiving can grow and morph until hurtful actions are taken. Spend time forgiving those who have wronged you will make your heart lighter. With young children, there are often many opportunities during play time when forgiveness is necessarily (such as when a toy is taken). Spend time talking about sharing and forgiveness.
This Easter season, make it a point to seek out His love, to fill your soul with Jesus’s teachings, and to hunger and thirst for God’s wisdom and guidance.