Purity and Wisdom

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. –James 3:17

This verse is absolutely loaded with wisdom. In many ways it reminds me of the passage that talks about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” So, each day this week, we’ll take one of the attributes listed here and talk about it more. We’ll start today with purity.

Purity is set apart at the top of the list for a reason: it is not necessarily the fruit that comes from wisdom, but rather the motivation for us to seek God’s wisdom. We all have turned from God. Evil is a part of our nature. But when we surrender to God, he washes our sins away and works to purify our hearts. In the beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in spirit, for they will see God.” (Matt. 5:8)

There is something remarkably refreshing about the presence of people who are pure in heart—those who do not have bitter envy or selfish ambitions (see James 3:14). This morning in church we prayed for two missionary couples, Chris and Lori Urton, who serve in Papua New Guinea, and Matthew and Rachel Grossman, who are going to serve in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. There is no question that they are very talented people. But what stands out about both couples is not their talents, but rather their hearts. They are amazingly trustworthy people. There is a very pure nature about them that is apparent from the first time that you meet them. That is probably why God sends people like them to faraway places, even if it is for a short period of time. He knows they will be received and trusted, because they are trustworthy people.

This world is hungering for those who are pure in heart. If we want to see our communities transformed for Christ, we must be willing to surrender to him and to see our own lives transformed first. The world does not need more religious people. The world needs more people who live as Christ lived. May you be one of them.