Hardheartedness, Hardheartedness, Hardheartedness

Daily writing prompt

Name your top three pet peeves.

Open your heart so that you can hear the truth that comes from God’s voice and be set free! (John 8:32) A tender heart will be drawn closer to God. A hard heart will drift far from Him.

The Bible plainly says: “Do not harden your heart.” (Hebrews 3:8) Oops. A lot of Christians choose to ignore that verse!

A tender, caring, and compassionate heart can learn to hear the voice of God. (1 Samuel 3:10) It can become consciously aware of His Presence. (Psalm 46:10) It can become good soil (Mark 4:20) to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)

A closed heart cannot. Even when people honor God with their lips, hard hearts stay far from Him. (Isaiah 29:13) A closed heart bites with such stubbornness and clamps shut so tightly that it leads to truth decay. Without openness to God’s mercy and grace, the human heart is hopeless. (Mark 7:21-23)

Hardness of heart hides so effectively and is so deceptive that most hardhearted people have no idea that their heart is made of stone. (Ezekiel 36:26) A hard heart prevents people from having a deep, personal, ongoing relationship with God.

A broken heart is painful, but it can help a person open up to, experience, and enjoy the wonderful presence of God. A hard heart alienates people from the life of God. (Ephesians 4:18)

If you neglect to cultivate tenderness of heart, your heart will naturally be hard. (Jeremiah 17:9) An open, tender, and caring heart is strong and courageous. A closed, hard, and angry heart is hiding in fear. (1 John 4:18)

Dry eyes are often a sign of a hard heart. Honesty, (Ephesians 4:15) humility, (2 Chronicles 7:14) openness, (1 John 1:7) and vulnerability (Galatians 2:20) are keys that can open a hard heart. Without the living water (John 7:38-39) of tenderhearted Spirit-led discipleship, (John 13:35) Christianity is easily shipwrecked. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

A nation full of people with hard hearts is a nation in trouble. Let Jesus soften your heart. The USA and other nations have plenty of crackpots, but far too few people who allow Jesus to crack and soften their heart so that His living water (John 7:38-39) can freely flow from within them.

About Steve Simms

I like to look and think outside the box. In college I encountered Jesus Christ and I have been passionate about trying to get to know Him better ever since. My wife and I long to see the power and passion of the first Christ-followers come to life in our time. I have written a book about our experiences in non-traditional church, called, "Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible--Ekklesia." If you need encouragement, search for: Elephants Encouraging The Room and/or check out my Amazon author page. Thank you!

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