How to Be Happy From the Inside Out
Matthew 5:8 English Standard Version (ESV), “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Pure in Heart = Unmixed motives.
Matthew 6:1 (ESV), “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
Three Recommends For Developing a Pure Heart
1. Remember That God Sees Everything You Do
Matthew 6:4 (ESV), “so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:6 (ESV), “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:18 (ESV), “that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Hebrews 4:13 (ESV), “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
God knows everything you do and still loves you!
2. Review Your Motives
Proverbs 24:12 (ESV), “If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it and will he not repay man according to his work?”
Giving – Matthew 6:2 – 4 (ESV), “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Praying – Matthew 6:5 -15 (ESV), “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting – Matthew 6:16 -18 (ESV), “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Remember that rewards are based not only on what we do but why we do it!
Opposite of Pure in Heart – John 12:43 (ESV), “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”
3. Realign Your Priorities
Exodus 20:3 (ESV), “You shall have no other gods before me.”
1 Thessalonians 2:4 (ESV), “but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts”
Three Tests
1. Look at Your Activities
Matthew 6:19 (ESV), “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,”
2. Look at Your Anxieties
Matthew 6:25 (ESV), “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Don’t worry about:
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- Finances
- Food
- Fitness
- Fashion
- Future
3. Look at Your Ambitions
Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV), “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Psalm 51:10 (ESV), “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Happiness is the fact that you don’t have to worry about being found out!
How do you get a pure heart? J-E-S-U-S !!
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
Pure in Heart is that moment you know like Daniel, you are neither negligent nor corruptible. Thank you for the tangible encouragement.
Thank you for your kind words.
Jimmie, thank you for showing the simplicity, yet complexity, of being happy from the inside out. Simple, as in, the directions are listed plainly for us in Scriptures, and difficult by the world’s standards. But God ….. we can only accomplish this with him, for sure!
Julie, thank you for your kind words.
Jimmie, I love that this is completely (almost) scriptural. You have organized them to logically step us through with the zinger conclusion: Happiness is knowing there’s nothing to find out, no reason to hide, a clean conscience. This might also describe peace.