Hard and Unrepentant Heart—Romans 2:5

Hard and Unrepentant Heart—Romans 2:5

“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5)

A while back, I was struggling with changes that were taking place within my department at work. These changes caused a lot of internal struggles. Finally it got to the point one day, my boss stopped by planning to offer me a raise, but because I was so consumed in self-pity, half way through our conversation I kicked him out of my office.


I was hurt and unwilling to accept the changes because I felt overlooked and underappreciated.
 

Needless to say, weeks later I got the raise, but only after a sincere apology and a change in attitude. The issue was my heart, which had been misguided and left unchecked during all of the changes. During this time, I saw only what I wanted to see and dwelt on it. My perception had gotten skewed, I was hurt and unwilling to accept the changes because I felt overlooked and underappreciated.

There is danger in having a hard and unrepentant heart. In this passage, we learn that this kind of heart is the cause of God’s wrath. This is because a heart in this condition willingly and continually chooses to go against God (Rom. 2:8). This attitude becomes like a callous, growing harder and more impenetrable over time. Interestingly, it appears this starts by comparing oneself and judging others (Rom. 2:1). Then it is plain stubbornness that keeps us unwilling to change our attitude.

Just as I had to humble myself and ask forgiveness from my boss, when we take the time to soften our hearts, turn to the Lord, and repent, we can expect Him to forgive us. The book of James invites us to “come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8). When doing this, we can expect mercy instead of wrath and judgement. Today, take time to soften your heart, and search it to see if there is any self-absorbed attitude that is causing callousness toward God. Take a moment to draw near to Him and seek His forgiveness and you will find His mercy.

 

Previous: Romans 2:3-4  Next: Romans 2:6-11

Original article published June 4, 2009.

Juli Camarin

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