Luke 21:34 But beware in your souls that your hearts never grow cold with gluttony and with drunkenness and with the cares of the world, and suddenly it shall come upon you that day.
A cold or a callous heart is clogged with pride, deceit and judgemental thoughts. No one is born with a cold heart but repeated hardening of the heart to correction, rebuke and direction from the Holy Spirit can make the heart cold and callous.
In the physical heart, the thickening of the arteries is called ‘atherosclerosis’ which is caused by buildup of plaque in the inner wall of the arteries. The plaque is built over a long period of time. Cholesterol and unsaturated fat coats like a veneer on the walls of the arteries and builds blockage in the arteries until it completely chokes the heart causing cardiac arrest.
Symbolically, our spiritual heart can become hardened by deposits of prideful, boastful and egoistic thoughts. Conceit is the plaque that clogs our spiritual heart. It is very important not to allow achievements, appreciation and awards to form layers of smugness in the walls of our heart. A proud and puffed heart will eventually turn cold, callous and corrupt.
Three test to evaluate the condition of our heart:
1. Correction: The way we respond to correction will reveal the humility or the callousness of our heart. The Pharisees could not take any correction as their hearts were cold and full of conceit and ego. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25). When a person thinks that they ‘know it all’, they have a serious spiritual heart condition called ‘pride’.
2. Confession: A humble heart is not only open to correction but also does not hesitate to confess and apologize when they are wrong. Those who struggle to admit their errors and seldom apologize are deceived with the boastful thought that they can never go wrong. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed (James 5:16). Don’t hesitate to admit, confess and apologize to your spouse, children, friends or colleagues. Confession heals the heart, mind and body.
3. Contention: A person who has a contentious, judgemental or fault finding spirit has a callous and cold heart. Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice (Proverbs 13:10). It is good to have healthy deliberations but when the discussion turns into contention it is the humble that put it to rest. The humble will arrive at a peaceable conclusion to a contentious argument.
Pride builds up plaque in the spiritual heart and makes a person arrogant, cold and callous. However, the humble hearted are quick to confess, apologize, love and forgive.
Psalm 17:10 They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance.
Prayer: Father God, show me if there is any deposit of pride in my spiritual heart. Help me to remain humble and contrite. Amen
Leave a Reply