How to Keep Your Heart from Growing Cold

For the past year, I’ve been meeting with a small group of men. We support each other, pray together, and encourage one another to keep going. We’ve also been reading the Bible from start to finish. We just wrapped up Lamentations, and I’ve been reflecting on the rise and fall of God’s people.

Reading Isaiah and Jeremiah is sobering. This so-called “nation of followers of God” repeatedly refuses to listen to His pleading—to turn from the sins that are destroying them and those around them. They’re so wrapped up in their desires, they want nothing to do with being ruled—even by God.

We’re not so different. I’m not so different.

As I’ve been thinking about the hardness of their hearts—and how easily mine could grow cold too—I’ve been asking:
What keeps us from years and years of spiritual hardness?

One verse comes to mind:

“They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.” – Jeremiah 32:33

Turning your back on someone is a sign of rejection and disrespect. We do this when we deliberately avoid time with God, not because we’re busy, but because we’re resisting Him. We do this when conviction comes and we shrug it off.

The alternative? Turn your face toward Him. We do this when we repent, when we pray, when we go to church, open our Bibles, or simply shift our attention back to God. It's about posturing our hearts toward Him.

Two thoughts for making it to the end:

1. Turn your face—not your back—toward God when you sin.

You will sin. That’s reality. That’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth. Every Christian will walk through seasons of sinfulness. The question is: What do you do when that happens?

Our hearts often grow cold in these moments because we’re clinging to something sin promises us—something we think is better than God.
But it won’t satisfy. It never has.

“For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves—cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” – Jeremiah 2:13

When, by God’s grace, you notice your heart drifting, turn your face toward Him. Don’t run from Him; run to Him. He is moving toward you. His arms are open. How do you need to turn towards the Lord? Perhaps it is going on a walk and spending time in prayer. Maybe it is starting a bible reading plan and praying each day. Whatever way you decide, it will take intentionality on your part.

2. Listen to discipline.

Hebrews 12 says:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son…”

God disciplines His children—not as punishment alone, but as training.
There is purpose in it. His discipline is loving, redemptive, and meant to grow us into holiness.

He’s not lashing out. He’s not driven by rage. Yes, He may show fatherly displeasure toward sin—but there’s also a coach-like resolve, shaping us through difficulty for our good. “Discipline is painful in the moment. But it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace in those who are trained by it.” - Hebrews 12:11

There are things we must do to stay faithful to God until the end. But even more than that—God has a hold on you.

So stay soft toward Him. Pay attention to the small nudges. Keep turning your face toward Him, not your back. By His grace, you’ll make it.

Walking with you,
Josh