Is Your Heart Hard?
What does it mean to have a hard heart?
A hard heart is unrepentant and unresponsive to God’s truth. It refuses to be grieved by sin, to humble itself, or to change course when confronted with wrongdoing. Such a heart is prideful, calloused, and indifferent to God’s goodness, and that indifference is what fuels hypocrisy and spiritual blindness.
Romans 2:4-5 speaks soberly of the wrath that awaits the hard and impenitent heart:
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
The Bible speaks often about the hardness of man’s heart, but how does a heart become hard in the first place?
How Hearts Become Hardened
Hebrews 3:13 gives us a clear answer:
“But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Sin hardens the heart: slowly, subtly, and deceitfully. It convinces us that disobedience is harmless, that conviction is unnecessary, and that we can manage life without God’s authority. And in His longsuffering, God allows this hardness to grow until we finally see our desperate need for Him.
Ask yourself honestly:
Do you willfully go against what God’s word says is right?
Do you ever grow apathetic toward sin in your life?
Do you ever act like a self-righteous, judgmental hypocrite (Rom 2:1-5)?
If you’re honest, the answer to all three is yes. Every one of us has gone astray. We all fall short of God’s perfect standard (Rom 3:10, 23). We’re all sinners in need of the atoning grace freely offered through Christ Jesus (Rom 3:21-26).
Even after salvation, we still wrestle with our flesh even though it’s judicially killed by the cross (Gal 5:16-26). We’re all capable of sinning and, therefore, having our hearts hardened by it. There are still areas of our hearts that are calloused by sin and in need of continual renewal.
Sometimes in our hardness, we avoid God’s word. We avoid reading it. We avoid talking to God about it. We avoid hearing others talk about it. This is like walking around in the dark with a flashlight in your hand but not turning it on because you think you know the way. You don’t, but God does (Psa 119:105)!
The Cure for a Hard Heart
The only cure for a hard heart is faith in the truth of God’s word. His word is the chisel that breaks through our stubbornness and renews our minds by His Spirit (Rom 12:1-2).
By His word, we clearly see our sin and our need for Christ every single day to constrain us by His love (2Co 5:14-15).
By His word, we learn that salvation is by grace through faith, not by our works (Eph 2:8-9).
By His word, we find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are in Christ alone (Col 2:1-3).
By His word, we are transformed as our minds are renewed (Rom 12:1-2).
By His word, we understand His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering that lead us to repentance (Rom 2:4).
Faith in God’s word doesn’t just soften hearts, it reshapes them. But, it’s not just about the words of God going in one ear and out the other, you need to believe them. Trust them. Receive them. Be fully persuaded that what God says is true.
A Humble Heart Before a Holy God
None of us has “arrived” in our Christian walk. God never had to “arrive” because He always was. He is above all (Eph 1:20-23).
None of us has a monopoly on truth. God is true (Rom 3:4).
None of us has a perfectly pure heart. God alone is holy, and every word of His is pure (Pro 30:5).
Whether you’ve just trusted the gospel or have walked with Christ for decades, we all stand before an omniscient and omnibenevolent God who still has more to teach us.
So let us approach His word humbly, allowing it to expose, convict, and cleanse. Let His truth chip away at the calloused corners of our hearts, until they are soft, teachable, and tender to His grace once again.
