The Causes of Hardness of Heart
The Causes of Hardness of Heart
Last week I spoke to you about the verse that says: “If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” We discussed hardness of heart in the spiritual life and its manifestations, and we gave examples of it… Today we speak about its causes…
The Sweetness of Sin:
One of the most important causes of hardness of heart is the sweetness of sin, as the wise Solomon says:
“Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
† The sweetness of sin places a veil between الإنسان and the love of God, and thus the heart becomes hardened. This has been so since the beginning, in the story of Eve and the tree…
The woman saw that the tree was pleasant to the sight, delightful to the eyes, and good for food. The sweetness of sin made her forget the commandment, and her heart became hardened…
One of the most important examples in this regard is the story of Samson, the Nazirite of the Lord:
The Spirit of the Lord had come upon him. But when he loved Delilah and sinned, his heart became hardened and he no longer heard the voice of the Spirit within him. Despite the woman’s connection with his enemies against him, and his knowledge of that, the sweetness of sin closed his ears from hearing God’s warnings, until the mighty man was lost…
Whenever the sinner hears the voice of God, the sweetness of sin closes his ears, so his heart becomes hardened, and he neither hears nor responds. He turns into two persons: one very tender in his love for sin, and the other very harsh in his rejection of God…
Like a stepmother who fills a man’s heart with bitterness against his children, so he becomes harsh in dealing with them, while being very gentle with his wife…
Thus we are in sin: love, tenderness, and responsiveness we give to lust, but hardness and rejection we give to God.
In our feeling of the sweetness of sin, we enter into a dual personality.
As the Apostle Paul said: “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Rom 7:19). (“I will not”) means the voice of the Spirit within him, but (“that I practice”) means the heart that rejects God and resists the Spirit.
Like a student during exams: a voice tells him to get up and study—your future, your lessons… but the sweetness of sleep hardens his heart, so he delays, enjoying sleep. Likewise, the worshiper does not rise to pray…
The sweetness of sin creates a competitor to God in the heart, so one does not respond to God.
Like the story of the rich young man who came to Christ seeking advice and eternal life, but the love of money hardened his heart, so he went away, leaving the Lord.
What hardened Pharaoh’s heart? It was also the sweetness of sin…
With every plague, he would ask for repentance and make promises to God, then go back again… How could he give up more than 400,000 people working for him in forced labor? The pleasure of that gain prevented him from repentance…
Like someone who lies and makes a doctor lie to obtain sick leave… Whenever the Spirit tells him it is a sin, he silences his conscience because of the sweetness of the leave!
Then “rationalization” enters, trying to silence his conscience, justify the matter, accuse him of rigidity, and excuse him because it is common…!
Among the examples of the effect of the sweetness of sin is Lot’s wife…
She received the Lord’s warning, heard the voice of the two angels, heard Lot preaching to his sons-in-law, and saw the angels urging her and the family to leave… But the sweetness of sin hardened her heart: How can I leave my possessions and the labor of years? Will all this truly burn? Let me look back… She looked and perished…
The sweetness of sin hardens the heart. Even if the Spirit urges repentance, one delays!
“I am convinced of my mistake; I must repent. But why now? Because of the sweetness of sin, I will wait a little, then repent.”
In delay there is hardness of heart. The Spirit calls, and you say: not now!
The heart is no longer sensitive to God’s voice as it once was. The feelings are no longer warm, responsive, or concerned with God’s work and His love. The phrase “this matter saddens God” has lost its effect on the hardened heart.
Evil Companionship:
† Among the things that harden the heart is evil companionship.
If you associate with people who are sensitive toward God, your heart becomes sensitive. But if you associate with people who do not care about spiritual matters, they harden your heart.
An example is King Ahab, whose heart was hardened by his wife Jezebel…
She taught him how to kill prophets and persecute the righteous. Consider his behavior with Naboth the Jezreelite. Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard, but Naboth refused to give up his inheritance. Ahab returned home sad and displeased. Jezebel saw this and devised a plan: kill Naboth… accuse him falsely of blasphemy, bring false witnesses, and condemn him to death… Ahab’s heart became hardened, and he killed Naboth.
A young boy may be tempted by bad friends to smoke. He fears and refuses, but they encourage him and harden his heart until he begins, and continues until it becomes a habit without fear…
I remember reading a book about hippies and the Beatles, and how they taught others immorality, hardened their hearts, and even taught them murder…
They were afraid at first, but were encouraged and commanded to carry out killings, their hearts hardened, and they progressed even to drinking blood…
Corrupt Rationalization:
God’s voice prevents a person from sin, but bad companions say: “Do it and do not fear,” so he does it without fear, and his heart becomes hardened…
If he refuses, they mock him: “Are you from the old times?” Through persuasion, temptation, mockery, and insistence, his heart becomes hardened, and he becomes like them…
Evil companionship may be people, or books and ideas…
Like an interfering radio station that distorts the signal you receive—whenever you try to listen, it disrupts you. So is corrupt rationalization, filling you with arguments and ideas that change your principles and harden your heart…
Like a young man in Western countries who is approached by others speaking about “freedom”—something he may not accept at first, but they persist:
“What authority does society have over you? Parents? The state? You are free—do whatever you want… do not lose your personality… do not submit to others…” Thus his heart becomes hardened, no longer respecting or obeying anyone, thinking this is freedom!!
This is corrupt rationalization—new ideas that harden the heart, not temporarily but permanently, because they change values and principles.
Obstacles:
The heart may also be hardened by obstacles and excuses, like the bride in the Song of Songs:
“I have taken off my robe; how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how can I defile them?”
Thus obstacles arise to harden the heart. Every spiritual act faces obstacles: fasting meets illness, vigil meets fatigue, prayer meets lack of desire, confession meets shame, communion meets lack of preparation or unworthiness…
A person may excuse himself from all these spiritual means by saying God is a God of hearts and all this is unnecessary… that God knows our weakness, and that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!!
Three people were called by the Lord to serve Him: one excused himself to bury his father, another because he married, and the third because he bought oxen… mere excuses.
The strong person does not care about obstacles but overcomes them.
Habitual Sin:
At the beginning, a person may be repulsed or afraid of sin. But as he becomes accustomed to it, his heart hardens, and it becomes easy—he drinks it like water. His conscience no longer awakens, nor does his mind protest.
Habitual Spiritual Practices:
A person may become accustomed to spiritual practices in a way that removes their reverence and effect. For example, frequent presence in church may lead one to talk, laugh, walk around, and forget it is a church. Likewise, frequent entry into the sanctuary, frequent communion, or over-familiarity with priesthood may remove reverence…
Like someone who takes medicine excessively until it loses its effect…
As the body may harden and not respond to medicine, so the heart may harden and not respond to spiritual means. They become ordinary, without effect…
Other Causes:
† Hardness of heart may come from it being one’s nature—
like rocky ground that does not respond to seed or watering…
† It may also come from despising God’s kindness and longsuffering:
The Apostle says (Rom 2:4–5):
“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath…”
A person sins and expects punishment, but when nothing happens, he loses fear, continues in sin, and his heart hardens… Would it have been better for him to be punished?
A person swears falsely on the Gospel, places it on his eyes, and nothing happens—so he despises the Gospel, lying, and oaths, and his heart hardens, no longer fearing holy things!
God could have struck him, but instead prolonged His patience—so the person’s heart hardens and he despises God’s longsuffering… Would punishment have been better for such people?
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Eighth Year (Issue Thirty-Two), 12-8-1977
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