Hard Hearts

When I first began my coming to faith journey I learned about the Parable of the Sower found in various versus in the Bible (Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:2-9, and Luke 8:4-8). The Parable is ultimately about seeds that fall on various types of landscapes and what happens to them depending on where they land.

According to Google AI, the four types of landscapes are as follows:

• The Path (Hard Ground): The seed is immediately stolen by birds (the evil one), representing those who hear but do not understand.

• The Rocky Ground (Shallow Ground): The seed sprouts quickly but withers due to shallow roots (trials or persecution).

• The Thorny Ground (Crowded Ground): The seed grows but is choked by thorns (worldly cares, riches, and pleasures).

• The Good Ground (Fertile Ground): The seed takes root and produces a fruitful crop (those who hear, understand, and produce fruit).

When I first came across this two years ago, I was someone who had just started exploring and reading about the Bible. I did not take much from this specific reading other than understanding different environments and settings impact the ability for something to grow.

Something about reading the Bible that I have learned is that there is a lot said in ways that feel out of reach. It is almost like when I watch funny reels on Instagram about how Gen Z speaks and how it is basically their own language. The Bible felt the same way. I did not know the spiritual slang yet so I took things very literal. But we all know slang is another way of saying something without saying it directly. It is like a code. Until then, you are left feeling like that conversation (or reading the Bible in my case) was over your head. However, last night I had a conversation with my mom and dad and a revelation came through, specifically with this Parable in mind. I felt like I finally understood the slang, or at least in my own interpretation of it, that left me feeling one step closer to God and understanding his Word.

Here was the revelation that came over me last night:

• The seed is our soul

• The environment is the spirit(s) that influence us at any given time

• The soil is our heart

We all have a seed. Our soul is the truest essence of who we are. It is the pure love where I believe that bible verse Genesis 1:26 states we are made in God's image is true. I believe our soul is a direct connection to God and it is in our soul that we experience our oneness with Him. Our souls can land in any type of environment that influence the choices, experiences and the process of moving through life. This is where I think of our family, childhood home, culture/ethnicity, city/state/country, anything really can influence and have spiritual influences. Even the music we listen to or the shows we watch can be influences in our environment.

I view the spirit of who we are to be kind of like our demeanor, our emotional and mental constitution, and the flavor of how we are experienced by others. It is an expression of the soul. The soul is who we are designed to be and the spirit is how we can describe it. The only difference is that the soul is concrete and steadfast whereas the spirit can be transient and shaped by its environment. We can have who we are, our soul, but we can have different spirits move through us. For example, we can have a spirit of encouragement, a spirit of hope or a spirit of compassion move through our actions. We can also have a spirit of jealousy, a spirit of bitterness and a spirit of comparison reside in us as well. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. Our hopes is that in knowing God, the Holy Spirit can come through and move through us when we engage with others over any other spirit that can influence our decisions, behaviors and general engagement in life. It is through our acceptance and relationship with God that we get access to the Holy Spirit; there is no bypassing that if you are looking to know what the highest power of influence can be. To be moved and guided by the Holy Spirit is electric, powerful and feels like clarity and confirmation. It is super awesome to experience the power of God in this way!

Lastly, the most important revelation I understood was seeing that the soil represented our hearts. Our hearts can be soft and receptive or hard and barren. I believe we all start off with hearts that are open and workable by God's hand but over time, over experiences and over the heartache, pain and suffering of living in this human experience, our hearts can become hardened. It has the potential to harden without being watered by God's Word. Of course there are many people who do the work to keep their hearts soft without going to God. Therapy, other religious affiliations, traveling, being in nature. All of those things and actions can lead you to pivot your direction and soften your heart. Trust me, if there is anyone who knows about trying to heal as someone who became a therapist, did 7-day silent retreats in the mountains, participated in many individual and group therapy sessions and sought out anything that could help me feel more grounded, it was only when I gave my life over to Jesus that I saw evident changes in my life that help me let go of the super deep stuff I had held onto for so long.

I know what life was like without God in it. My soul got suffocated underneath the brokenness of my spirit (the conditions of my life's circumstances and choices). It was in pursuing truth and finding my way back to God that the soil of my heart was able to be renewed through the Holy Spirit. I was given a heart that was always meant to be soft; to feel, to love, to be grateful. Having a hard heart not only hurt me, it hurt others. A hard heart kept me guarded, judgmental, fearful and anxious. Nothing good can grow from having a hard heart. But the truth is many of us have hard hearts and we don't even know it.

So if you find yourself frustrated, angry, anxious, worried, stressed, offended, judgmental, annoyed, or in a state that does not feel like any of the Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), I would encourage you to take a moment and reflect on what can help soften your soil so that your soul can thrive.

In the debut book of The Starting Point, the topic of a heart change due to a divine intervention is shared. This book is written for anyone looking to hear about how surrendering and trusting God to help us with forgiveness can lead us to softening our hearts and experiencing life with more compassion and love.

Purposeful Practices:

1. How would you describe your soul based on the definition above? What does it seek and need to feel safe, protected and grounded?

2. What environmental factors about your life influence your spirit? Write down anything that comes to mind of influences that encourage, lift and promote your spirit on one side of a page and on the other side, write down any influences that make you feel confused, cautious, condemned or critical. After writing them down, see what you can do to limit/restrict the time you spend in situations that leave you feeling drained and increase your time in areas that leave you feeling better than when you started.

3. Looking at the The Parable of the Sower, which landscape do you currently most resonate with and why?