hardening of heart question

heron

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Hm, deep question. It seems that a heart would be hardened after bad experiences, protecting oneself from getting injured again. Callouses build up naturally for the body's defense.

The Holy Spirit can break through this, without a lot of effort on your (the person's) part, just asking God to start working.

I find that softening can come when I'm sitting among a large group of people praying with faith -- because it's not all dependent on me asking God, me fixing the problem. The Body of Christ joins together to patch itself up, with prayer. Ideally, that is.

God works with us to peel away the layers, but depending on the situation, a hard heart isn't completely bad. Look at the layers concept -- onion skins drying on the outside to protect an onion, tree bark drying on the outside of trunks, sea shells coating with pearly substance... it's all through nature.

If your heart is hard toward God, explain to Him what it's about. He knows your past, and why things were rough. Show Him that you really want to get beyond that. Once you give Him permission, He can begin working.

Start going through a forgiveness process over people you were angry with. Let go of a demand for reparation or revenge, and let God be the one who compensates you for losses. He is the one with all the resources. Just let go of the possibility that a bad person will suddenly become good enough to apologize.

"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Don't take it all on yourself. God's perfect revenge is to reveal to a person their humanity, their potential for frailness and limits of years. In my observation, anyway. God can soften hearts of both the offender and the victim.

If your focus is on God, and not on the offense, not of fear of loss, not on wishing for damages paid... then perfect love casts out fear and you find yourself on a higher plane where it doesn't matter anymore. You can be in God's kingdom where relief comes unexpectedly, from an unusual source, and you don't need goodness to come from people who do not want to be good.
 
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Peripatetic

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If it's your own heart, the first steps usually involve seeking a closer relationship with God as He is, not the little box that we sometimes try to put Him in. The hardest part is starting... once you spend more time with the Bible (and/or books like Knowing God or Knowledge of the Holy), the melting of the ice will begin.

If you're inquiring about softening the heart of another... well, that can be a more difficult matter. It all depends on the circumstance and your relationship with the person. The best advice I could give is to be there to lean on and listen.
 
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Medievalarmy

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From a Biblical perspective, hardening the heart is what happens when we choose sin over following God.

I believe the answer is to repent (turn away from your sins) and start walking to God. God will forgive, and if you draw close to Him, he will reciprocate.
That is the way I understand it too, so I agree with you.
 
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LilLamb219

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Hardened heart? In what way are you speaking?

A Christian does not have a truly hardened heart if he/she believes that Christ has died on the cross in his/her place and that his/her sins are forgiven. God gives us the gift of faith so that we may believe in this truth of the Gospel. Those with hardened hearts do not believe or trust in this good news.

Is this the type of hardened heart your referring to?
 
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Hm, deep question. It seems that a heart would be hardened after bad experiences, protecting oneself from getting injured again. Callouses build up naturally for the body's defense.

The Holy Spirit can break through this, without a lot of effort on your (the person's) part, just asking God to start working.

I find that softening can come when I'm sitting among a large group of people praying with faith -- because it's not all dependent on me asking God, me fixing the problem. The Body of Christ joins together to patch itself up, with prayer. Ideally, that is.

God works with us to peel away the layers, but depending on the situation, a hard heart isn't completely bad. Look at the layers concept -- onion skins drying on the outside to protect an onion, tree bark drying on the outside of trunks, sea shells coating with pearly substance... it's all through nature.

If your heart is hard toward God, explain to Him what it's about. He knows your past, and why things were rough. Show Him that you really want to get beyond that. Once you give Him permission, He can begin working.

Start going through a forgiveness process over people you were angry with. Let go of a demand for reparation or revenge, and let God be the one who compensates you for losses. He is the one with all the resources. Just let go of the possibility that a bad person will suddenly become good enough to apologize.

"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Don't take it all on yourself. God's perfect revenge is to reveal to a person their humanity, their potential for frailness and limits of years. In my observation, anyway. God can soften hearts of both the offender and the victim.

If your focus is on God, and not on the offense, not of fear of loss, not on wishing for damages paid... then perfect love casts out fear and you find yourself on a higher plane where it doesn't matter anymore. You can be in God's kingdom where relief comes unexpectedly, from an unusual source, and you don't need goodness to come from people who do not want to be good.

He spoke to me through what you said. Just wanted you to know.

Thanks.
 
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Peripatetic

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He spoke to me through what you said. Just wanted you to know.

Thanks.

The Internet gets criticized for a lot of bad stuff, but fellowship and support like this makes up for a lot of the negativity. Thanks heron!
 
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