This verse, like many in Proverbs is a contrasting couplet. Here we find two opposite attitudes that each produce differing results. The Message interprets this verse:
A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life;
a hardhearted person lives a hard life.
One of life's tougher battles is that of keeping our hearts soft, tender, and pliable. Life has a way of hardening us on the inside. Circumstances can harden our hearts as we are wrongly treated and respond by building walls of protection and resistance. Sin hardens our hearts when we choose not to repent and confess them and instead hold on to them.
Our hearts do not harden overnight. That's what is so dangerous about this dilemma. In fact, the process goes almost unnoticed until it is too late. We have all wondered how good, solid Christian people fall. This is one way it happens: the slow road to a hardened heart.
We need to battle this issue every day. We need to go before God every day and ask Him to search our hearts and show us if we are drifting in this direction. We also need to listen to our speech. Jesus pointed out that our speech--the way to talk to others--is a reflection of our hearts. Hard words are often a warning sign of a hard heart.
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