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No one likes to think of themselves as hard hearted. Deep down we would all prefer to consider our heart can be softened, particularly for those whom we love.

Mark speaks of the link between a person’s heart being hard and their inability to believe. So debilitating is this spiritual illness, that even when miracles were visible, the disciples could not comprehend them. If the disciples were prone to this complaint, it is necessary for even the most faithful Christian to be on guard.

Jesus went on to explain how serious this illness can be for our soul. It can lead to an inability to see, understand, hear, and even remember what God has done for us and how we are blessed. Mark 8:17-18, “And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?”

The Old Testament history of God’s dealing with the Israelite nation is littered with examples of this human condition and its ability to separate man from God. King Solomon’s wisdom begins the journey to overcoming this condition, for it was he who said, ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ (see Proverbs 1:7). In Proverbs 28:14 he continues the remedy, “Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.”

Jesus Christ, in this era of Grace, has provided a full antidote to the hardness of the heart because it is this part of us that He desires to dwell within. Regardless as to whether it is a result of sin, unbelief, or the cares of this world, His victory is the means to soften the stony heart. It is the healing of the heart from these spiritual diseases that can follow repentance and forgiveness and pave the way for a softened nature.

God’s word became flesh with a fleshly heart in order to overcome the world and Apostle Paul compared the 10 commandments written on stone to the new way now available in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:3, “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

It is now up to us whether we use the knowledge of Christ to keep our hearts suitable as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit or whether we choose to harden it when provoked by life. Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

The choice is still ours!