In the fantasy series A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin, there is a character named Cately Stark who loses most of her family to the violence of another family. Catelyn, and her son both died together in one part of the story. Catelyn is later revived as Lady Stoneheart. As the name suggests, she is no longer the empathetic and loving woman she was before but is bent on revenge. Her heart has become as hard as a stone through anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and rage.

The Bible warns us about developing a heart of stone. In the book of Exodus, Pharoah continually rejects the Word of God spoken to him through Moses. In the Exodus account, the author mentions eight times (Ex. 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:32, 8:12, 9:35, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10) when Pharoah’s heart was hardened by his refusal to obey God’s Word.

There is a similar challenge in our lives. Our hearts can become hardened to God’s things and to our neighbors’ plight when we reject God’s Word. When we choose to live with anger and unforgiveness, our hearts can become hard towards those who have wronged us. When we allow fear of others to motivate our choices, our hardened hearts prevent us from seeing others as fellow humans. When our hearts become hardened, we cannot see the world and those around us the way God sees them.

There is hope for a hardened heart. The prophet Ezekiel declared God’s word to the people, a word of hope and restoration. During their exile, God says, 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

God promises Israel that He will take their heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. Stone is hard, inflexible, and cold. A heart of flesh has life, is softened, and provides warmth. A heart of flesh allows us to be moved by worship and to perceive that God is at work in us and in those around us. It is the work of God’s Spirit to make this transformation. The Holy Spirit helps us to be alive and receptive to God’s way, which gives our hearts life.

Are there areas of your life where your heart has become hardened? Do you need the Holy Spirit to do a heart transplant, taking your heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh? My prayer, as we learn more about the work of the Holy Spirit, is that each of us would pray to receive God’s Spirit, which renews and makes us truly alive.