ESOCS Devotional 20 June 2024 – Hard Heartedness – The Relationship Killer
MEMORY VERSE: “And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.” Mark 10:5 NKJV
TEXT: MARK 10:1-12
Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.
3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”
5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
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A relationship is a beautiful thing God gave men. Through it, humans experience cordial interactions. Relationship happens basically in four ways: (a) Spiritual – with God and His family (Brethren in Christ); (b) Marital; (c) Family – Nuclear and extended; (d) Others – friends, colleagues, neighbours and strangers.
In this scriptural passage and memory verse, marital relationship was the subject of discussion. They asked Jesus Christ about divorce in marriage. In His discussion, Jesus revealed a key that could and has been killing relationships. Although the discussion was about marriage, the evil that the Lord Jesus mentioned is capable of killing all four areas of relationships listed above. That evil is hardness of heart.
Hardness of heart is a heart that does not love God nor does it love fellow men. It is full of wickedness and unforgiveness. It is bitter against an offender. It is selfish, inconsiderate, unmerciful and unkind. This kind of heart has been the reason divorces have been happening. When and where two different individuals are relating, there are bound to be mistakes and offences. If the offender is insensitive and inconsiderate, the offence is bound to be recurrent. That is a sign of the hardness of heart. If the offended keeps count of the offences, piles and files them up and refuses to let go and forgive, even when the offender comes to his/her senses and tenders a sincere apology, that also is a sign of the hardness of heart.
Another sign of the the hardness of heart is in the area of lust, a situation where one of the spouses sees another and believes he/she is better than his/her own spouse by whatever induced enticements. He/she will selfishly conclude that he/she does not need his/her spouse again. This is hardness of heart by lust.
If we are going to have an enjoyable relationship with others, Jesus Christ must be the answer. You cannot love truly without Jesus Christ in your life, who made you a believer. As a believer in Christ Jesus, you cannot love genuinely without submission to His Lordship and Spirit. Otherwise, lust and unforgiveness will attack your spirituality and thereby affect your relationship.
Without a sincere submission to the rule of the word of God in your life in all practicality, there is no way Jesus Christ would be your Lord. And without the leading of His Spirit, He is not yet practically your Lord. When the Lord Jesus Christ leads you by His word and Spirit, He cannot lead you into wickedness (1 Peter 3:8-11). If two individuals in a relationship are genuinely Christians and love one another, they will be tender-hearted towards one another. They will ever live together to please each other and fulfil their purposes in Christ.
- Search your heart, is it still tender with love or tending towards hardness of heart?
- Father, help my heart to remain tender with your love, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: Exodus 24:9-end; 2 Kings 23:21-30; Romans 13:1-14
ESOCS Devotional 20 June 2024
