Day 2: Kindness and Courage

Healing requires kindness. It also requires courage.

When Jesus calls the man forward, he does so in a room filled with tension. The religious leaders are silent, not because they are unsure but because they care more about being right than seeing someone restored.

Jesus does not back down. He leans into the conflict. He exposes the absurdity of choosing a rule over a human being. He is grieved at their hardness of heart.

Hardness of heart is one of the greatest obstacles to healing.

We can become hard hearted about our own wounds. We deny them out of pride. We fear disappointment. We are afraid of looking foolish if we hope for healing and it does not happen. So we lower our expectations. We say we are fine even when we are not.

We can also grow hard hearted toward the pain of others. We become numb. We move on. We protect ourselves from feeling too much.

Jesus was tough, but he was never hard hearted. He confronted opposition boldly and met wounds with compassion. He was angry at indifference and tender toward the broken.

Healing will be opposed because we live in a broken world. That means we need both kindness and perseverance. We need soft hearts and strong resolve.

The question for us is simple. Where has hardness taken root?

Talk It Over

In what area of your life do you sense hardness of heart beginning to form?

Prayer

Father, guard my heart from hardness. Where pride, fear, or disappointment have made me resistant to healing, soften me. Give me courage to pursue restoration and compassion to care about the wounds of others. Align my heart with the heart of Jesus. In his name we pray, Amen.