Hard Hearts Make Hard Lives

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast. And today is episode 1581. Today's Devo is called Hard Hearts Make Hard Lives.

Hey there, we're the Alesssies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Sometimes the issue isn't what happened to you. Sometimes the real issue is what pain has hardened in you. There's been many times in my own personal life where circumstances, storms, conflict that has come has had the potential to even harden my heart or to make me better. I think Kelly Clarkson wrote a great song, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger. Well, this verse today in Matthew 19 kind of goes there in a way that maybe we aren't prepared for. It talks about hardening of the heart, but through the eyes of divorce. Yes, divorce. If you're divorced out there listening, maybe this one is for you. Maybe you are on the fence and you're married, but you're considering it. Hey, listen very closely to this verse today. The scripture is Matthew 19, 8, and it says, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. Hmm. What is that verse all about? And how does that apply to our lives and a daily devotional? Well, I think it applies to all of us, whether we've been divorced or not, because Moses says this. This is the key phrase. Moses permitted this because of the hardness of your hearts. He permitted divorce because their hearts were hardened. In other words, there are things that God allows people to navigate through because their hearts have become hard. But hardness was never God's original design. Now, maybe you're right now saying, I'm offended. That is not how I wanted to start off my day. I hear you. But listen, this is not just about divorce. My mom's divorced. And I can tell you it wasn't because her heart was hardened. Her husband left. It was a marriage that was racked with conflict. And to protect her heart, she had to walk away. But I think it's important that we discuss hard hearts because they don't happen just overnight. Like divorce doesn't happen overnight. Like conflict doesn't just take us to the brink of a relational discord overnight. Things happen. And usually a hard heart is the result of disappointment, betrayal, offense, exhaustion and pain, unanswered prayers or prolonged frustration. You're waiting on God and He hasn't come through. And the potential for you to develop a hard heart is there. Now, why is this important for a Monday morning? Why is this important for you to get your day started the right way? Because if you're not careful, your heart starts protecting itself in all the wrong ways, which is why I commend you for starting every morning with a daily devotional like my morning. Because this helps you keep your heart softened. Because a hard heart will do this. You stop trusting, you stop feeling, you stop yielding to God, and you stop hoping. And you stop allowing God to correct you in the areas that He wants to speak, because it's just safer to shut down than it is to keep your heart pliable and soft. But listen, a hard heart makes a hard life. Here's three really quick truths we take away from this. Number one, a hard heart will make you tolerate what God never designed. So it's important for us to understand what Jesus said in Matthew. He said it was not this way from the beginning. Hardness lowers the standard. That wasn't the original intent or design. Hardness makes peace with dysfunction and it accepts what God really wants to heal. You just shut your heart off. But see, taking a moment every day allows you to open your heart to hear from God's word. Now, something else, number two, a hard heart doesn't affect just your relationships. It affects your ability to really hear God. So even in a moment like right now, if you don't open up your heart to hear what God's word has to say, sometimes we'll just rush through our daily devo when God is so desperately trying to speak something to us that could soften our heart. See, when your heart gets hard, correction becomes offensive. Conviction is annoying, and intimacy with God feels distance. Maybe that's where you are right now. You're feeling distant from the Lord. Number three, Jesus doesn't expose hardness to shame you, he allows it to heal you. That's what God wants to do right now. In five minutes, yes, in five minutes, because he's not trying to embarrass you. He's trying to help you and show you that if you stay in a hard place in your heart, you're gonna stay stuck. So we want to get you unstuck today. That's what God's word is for. That's what five minutes sitting at the feet of Jesus and opening his word will allow you to do. Get unstuck and not stay in a place of hardness in your heart. Can we pray together? Let's pray this prayer. Lord, if there's any hardness in me, show me. Reveal my heart to me. If disappointment, offense, fear, or pain has kept me from you and it's made me resistant to you, tenderize my heart. Create in me a clean heart. I don't want to live numb. I don't want to live guarded and shut down. Make me soft towards your voice so that I can hear you. In your name I pray. Amen. Here's a challenge for you today. Just ask the Lord before you get up and go to work, Lord, is there an area in my heart that I've hardened, an area that I'm resisting you. And don't be defensive. Let God heal you today. Thanks for joining us.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.