A New Heart

I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

I spent two years working in the outpatient mental health and chemical dependency program at our local veterans hospital. Most veterans would stay for the intensive treatment anywhere from thirty to forty-five days.

The visits often started the same. The person would come to my office the first morning looking tired and upset. They were disoriented and angry. Exhausted by life. We’d develop a plan for their stay and discuss which classes they thought would most benefit them, what they hoped to get out of the program, and how long we recommended for them to stay. They would leave my office that first day still deflated but determined to stick to the plan.

Then, slowly, I’d see the change. Day after day. Week after week. Eyes would become brighter. Shoulders no longer slumped. They’d engage in group sessions and start having deeper insights into their thoughts and behaviors. They’d have honest conversations with family and friends and begin the process of restoring relationships. They’d laugh again. The transformation took place before my eyes—a stony heart being turned back to tender—and it was awesome to behold. Witnessing it never got old.

God still restores lives, replacing stubborn, hardened hearts with softened, responsive ones. Sometimes it is a pronounced change, and other times it occurs gradually. But there is always the promise and the hope given to each of us that God will give us a new heart, a new spirit—one that mirrors his own heart for us and all his people. One that can give and receive love, showing compassion and mercy to those around us.

Kendra

Today’s Act of Gratitude

What stony parts of your heart has God replaced with tenderness? Spend some time thanking him for the transformation.