A Divine Exchange

“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.”

Ezekiel 36:26

Defense mechanisms can be great, if they’re serving their purpose. You duck and cover when something comes flying at you. But spiritually, defense mechanisms can be a problem.

As I allowed the Lord to heal my heart from my painful childhood, I saw my faith and courage increase. Instead of constantly trying to protect myself, I gave myself over to the Lord bit by bit. I let Him change my heart of stone into a pliable, tender heart of flesh. It was a supernatural, divine exchange—one that He wants you to experience as well. Let God replace your broken heart with “a heart of flesh.” After all, healthy hearts mean healthy and fruitful lives.

This divine exchange may begin quite subtly. But over time, you’ll see transformations like these:

• Hurt people hurt people, but helped people help people.

• Broken people break people, but rebuilt people build people.

• Damaged people damage people, but loved people love people.

• Wounded people wound people, but healed people bind up wounds.

• Bound people bind people, but freed people lead others to freedom.

Lord, thank You for giving me a heart of flesh to replace my heart of stone. Thank You for using me to lead others to freedom.