We live in an age of self-expression. The Megan Trainor song “I Love Me” depicts societies focus on self: “But I can see it clearer when I’m lookin’ in the mirror, Saying God made me just right, I love me, I love me – I don’t know about you, but baby, I love me.” While it is important to have a healthy self esteem, if we believe everything we think, feel and act on is ok we will progressively fall into deeper and deeper sin and dysfunction, never changing to be what God intended us to be. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” He is calling us to align better with God’s design for us. In the Bible we see two images that illustrate the concept of purity or the purifying process: pruning and fire. In pruning, the unproductive branches are removed so more fruit can be produced. Fire is used to refine alloy by heating it to a degree that the lesser material is removed to leave only the gold. Both pruning and a refiner’s fire are a process of removing something to achieve a desired result. Purity in the spiritual life is about removing the aspects of our lives that don’t align with God and his righteousness. Spiritual purity flies in the face of the self-expressive age we are living, and as with all the beatitudes, purity is counter to the values and actions of the society we live in. But purity is worth it. Why? Because look what we get – we will see God. Join us this Sunday for part 5 of this sermon series on the beatitudes: Purity in An Age of Self-Expression.