By Rick Sentle

Hey, wait a minute, I kind of resemble that remark. But then again, don’t we all. It’s easy to develop a little roughness with all the hard things we deal with in life.  One thing is certain, we all have situations, circumstances and people who can wear on us, but the good news is we don’t have to deal with them on our own. We have someone who longs to help us through our tough times.

Our reaction to the rough things can have effects.  The first thing that came to mind was callouses- from the Latin meaning tough skin. The dictionary defines calloused as: made hard; insensitive, indifferent or unsympathetic.  If you’ve faced a lot of hardship and trials, that may describe you. But I don’t think that this description was what God had in mind for His children.

Let’s look to Jesus for a minute. Jesus grew up as son of Joseph the carpenter. Back in that time a carpenter was not just wood and nails.   It was stonework, building and many physical tasks.  I’m sure Jesus knew a little about callouses. The physical ones. He also knew something about making things.  Beautiful things.

The craftsman knows that sometimes you have to get out the hammer and chisel to knock off the rough edges.  You may have to shave away things on the outside to get the shape you want. And before you are finished you may need to rub things down with sandpaper to smooth things out.

Let’s get back to our rough edges. We all have a few. Some may be physical, some may be emotional and some may be spiritual. Each causes their own problems. Some of these took some time to develop. Some are deeply ingrained into who we are.  None of us can fix these on our own. They won’t change overnight. But if we don’t recognize the problem and work to correct it there are serious consequences in our life.

Jesus spent a lot of time in His earthly ministry talking with His disciples and common folk about God’s plan for us. He seemed to run across quite a selection of folks who had seen tough times. People who looked to Him for hope.

In His teachings He used many examples, parables about the hardened condition of people. He warned us of many things to look out for. He also talked a lot about callouses on people’s hearts.  Quoting from the Old Testament He helps us see part of the problem  …. wander from Your way(God’s)…. harden your heart …. do not revere God.   Sounds like trouble to me.

Other scripture (Exodus; Proverbs; Psalms; Isaiah) point to similar patterns-….hearts calloused….. ears dull….. closed eyes …. separated from God.    But the good news is there is a better way.

He shared these warnings with us to keep us on the right path, the path he leads us on. He lived his life as an example. Even in the face of persecution, He chose Love. We have to make the choice to allow the hardness to take over, and affect our lives or through His Grace and the power of His Spirit, follow Him, and grow in love.    It’s either/or – we choose.

We need to look at things as Jesus did.  Sometimes his way seemed backwards. In the natural we think an eye for an eye, but Jesus says turn the other cheek. In Matthew He told us …”you have heard it said ‘love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven”.  That kind of goes against the grain of the natural way of thinking.  But He looked at things in the Spiritual and not the natural.

Maybe there’s someone out there that “rubs you the wrong way”. If we act in the natural way we can have trouble. But if we recognize that God may be using this like sand paper, to rub off our rough edges, we can rise above and react with love. Maybe we need to work on our patience. Maybe we need to recognize there is a reason that person is acting in hurtful ways. Maybe we need to be reminded of the grace that God showed us. It definitely won’t be easy.  That’s why we need to look to Jesus and remember that we are all a work in progress.

When Jesus was asked what was The most important commandment, He replied –”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And love one another. All the other laws and Prophets hang on these two commands.”

The rough edges we’ve built up make us insensitive, indifferent and unsympathetic. They can make us hard.  They can separate us from God.   But if we let the love of Jesus Reign in or hearts we can shine our light to a world that needs to see it.  Demonstrate true Christian love – you will know my children by their love.

Hebrews 4:7   …..Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.