Digging Deeper – Watch for the Warning Signs of a Cold Heart
“When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!'”
Luke 7:39 (NLT)
WATCH FOR THE WARNING SIGNS OF A COLD HEART
You can be close to Jesus and still have a heart that is growing cold. Simon the Pharisee proves it. He invited Jesus into his home, sat at the same table with Him, and listened to Him speak. From the outside, Simon seemed exactly where a spiritual person should be. But something was wrong inside him.
When an immoral woman entered the room and began weeping at Jesus’ feet, Simon’s first response was not compassion. It was criticism. He looked at her and immediately thought, “She’s a sinner!” Simon sat beside Jesus, but instead of being amazed by Jesus, he analyzed someone else and was critical.
When criticism is our first thought, that can be a warning sign of a heart that’s growing cold. We become increasingly aware of what is wrong with everyone else and increasingly unaware of what is wrong within us. Jesus gave a similar warning in Matthew 7:3 (NLT): “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?” Jesus was not telling us to ignore sin. He warned us not to be more critical and bothered by another person’s failures than we are about the condition of our own hearts.
The longer we follow Jesus, the more spiritually mature we should become. But a subtle danger also exists. We can become so familiar with church, Scripture, and worship that we begin measuring everyone else instead of examining ourselves. Before long, we can become experts at identifying everyone else’s sin while becoming too comfortable with our own.
Imagine two people walking into a hospital emergency room. One person looks terrible. His clothes are torn, his face is bleeding, and everyone can immediately see that something is wrong. The other person walks in wearing a suit. He looks healthy and feels fine. After running some tests, however, doctors discover that the second man has a life-threatening condition developing inside his body. His problem is just as serious, but much harder to see.
Simon could clearly see the woman’s spiritual wounds, but he could not see his own. Her sin was public, while his pride was private. Romans 3:23 (NLT) says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” When I remember my own need for Jesus, it becomes much harder to look down on someone else. If you find yourself becoming increasingly critical of others, it may be time to ask God to show you what is happening in your own heart.
Reflection Questions
- Have you become quicker to notice other people’s failures than your own?
- Who are you most tempted to criticize or look down upon?
- How would remembering your own need for Jesus change the way you see that person?
- Ask Jesus today to replace a critical spirit with a compassionate heart.
Steve Roach serves as the Pastor of Spiritual Growth at NorthStar Church. He and his wife, Amy, live in Acworth and have three girls, Olivia, Sydney, and Hayley and one son, Colton. He enjoys watching sports and spending time with his family.
