I love the Message version of Matthew 5:8 which states “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” Other translations speak of having a “pure heart”.

God is concerned with our hearts. Purity in the context of this verse means free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt. Purity is often also synonymous with being singular, consistent or “un-mixed”. Our hearts, our inside world, needs to be singular in pursuit of and focus on God.

God is also concerned with justice. And these two concerns, that of the heart and that of justice, are symbiotic.

In acting out justice, particularly in our age where the measure of justice is often set by the secular world with fine sounding and sometimes divisive arguments, there is need to ensure that our hearts are pure. That our inside world is put right and aligned singularly to God and a biblical definition of justice; a justice that reflects God’s character and standards.

Pertaining to justice there can also be a tendency for us to have hardened or disinterested hearts. Confronting the many injustices we observe daily in our nation and world we can feel overwhelmed and uncertain how to enact justice. This can easily lead to rationalizing inaction and even at times the continued existence and perpetuation of the injustice.

Micah 6 verse 8, amongst many other scriptures, emphasizes God’s directive for us to pursue justice. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”. May a humble walk with God and a love for kindness guide us in enacting justice.

Be encouraged to examine your heart, bring it before God and allow His Spirit to work in you to have your inside world put right – so that you may see God in the outside world and believe for and work with Him in the outworking of biblical justice in this world.