Dear Reader…
I pray God, our Heavenly Father, speaks to you through what you’re about to read. It is deeply personal to me. Yet, I believe it carries a universal truth. It is not my intent to force anything upon you. Instead, I invite you to pause and ponder your own journey. Consider the perspective I’m sharing, knowing that your path looks different from mine. This is my testimony — a story of hardness of heart and surrender, of pride and breakthrough. The choice, though, is always yours.
-In Jesus Christs name. Amen.
The Unveiled Truth: Journey To Freedom from the Shadows
Understanding Hardness of Heart
Hardness of the Heart isn’t just a condition; it’s a spiritual insensitivity to the Will of God. A Condition that numbs us and resists the Truth of God’s Word and Grace. A monster that creeps in the shadows slowly, fed through pain, pride, and betrayal. Bet let me be clear: pride is the root. Hardness of heart is the result. One opens the door to the other. Always.
Let me be perfectly honest here, readers. I didn’t know I was full of pride. I thought I was just surviving this world. Just coping and numbing my way through the days.
Pride doesn’t always look loud.
It’s subtle. It can look like independence. Looks like silence, and sometimes it seems like “I’m fine.”
The Revelation that changed it all: Pride
Revelation came: Pride hardened my heart.
Resulting in me resisting.
Ultimately, I wasn’t tired. I was spiritually dying. And honestly, you’re resisting too.
Be it “I’m good” or “I’m fine,” these responses are evidence of the hardened condition of your heart.
Revelation: Denial is pride.
Pride refuses to hold itself accountable.
It deflects, defends, and justifies.
It refuses to see truth for what it is. And it never repents.
Denying the word of God isn’t strictly personal; it’s global.
History has shown us just how far we have fallen.
**Humanity consistently drifts away from His Truth, into complacency. Drifting into rebellion disguised as survival, peace, and contentment. **
As Romans 12:2 says:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God."
This post isn’t just a teaching.
It’s my testimony.
It’s the unveiling of what hides in the Shadow, giving it a name.
Naming it, we can truly confront it.
we can repent.
We can heal.
This is the journey.
Healing pain.
Pride to surrender.
from hardness sanctification.
Breakthrough comes from turning back to Jesus.
.
My Story: Hardness of Heart Revealed, Freedom Found
Hardness of heart doesn’t just happen—it develops over time. Mine began as a child and led me down a rebellious path. A promiscuous lifestyle. Choices that birthed pain: one failed marriage, one marriage that left me a widow. A single mom raising three kids. Depression. Loneliness. Emptiness. All of it fed the hardness.
Partially deaf, I wasn’t invisible to the abuse. I was targeted. I witnessed and endured things no child should ever face—watching my siblings suffer beatings, feeling unloved and unseen. My parents said they loved me; their treatment said they didn’t. I was bullied at home. Bullied at school. Emotionally drained and abused. Mentally exhausted and beat up. Lost, confused and alone in turmoil, no child should ever have to endure. I had no safe place to go. I burrowed inwardly, and I couldn’t find my place in this world.
Stronghold created
In high School, I picked up cigarettes. I thought they gave me identity—something to hold onto, a place to fit in. I hung out with misfits like me. We were never friends; we were just kids who somehow didn’t fit in anywhere. Kids like that were deemed rebels.
What started as a wish to belong and fit in became an addiction—a spiritual battle for my soul. It hardened my heart and kept me prisoner to the ever-growing need and want for nicotine.
Smoking isn’t an identity. It’s a byproduct of a choice made long ago. This isn’t who I am.
Over time, I managed to walk away from cigarettes. I didn’t walk away from addiction. I only transferred the habit to vaping, carrying the same chains, just in a different form.
Now, I want to quit vaping. Not just the hand-to-mouth motion, not just the habit—but the root. The nicotine addiction. I have desired to stop for a long time now. I know the routine of quitting a habit, an addiction. I’ve lived it. I’m living it.
The Anatomy of Addiction
I’ve come to understand something deeper: addiction is often a symptom, not the root. The root was pride, pain. The root was rebellion. And all of it hardened my heart.
Addiction, I now see, is a deeply embedded, open act of rebellion against God. It’s not something I can just wake up one day and say, “I quit.” There’s more to it. For someone who just started smoking, maybe they can walk away easily. I’ve seen this happen with my son and my daughter. As for me, it’s layered. It’s spiritual. It’s generational.
A Choice has to be made
This addiction runs deep, and I can’t fight it on my own. I’ve tried many ways to quit. Self-will power. Programs. Meditation. Nothing worked. Every effort was fruitless. Ultimately, I turned to God.
A Heart God Sees
I turned to God in this inner battle. He’s the only one who can help me through this. I understand that some of you who read this will scoff at this idea.
Being a believer in God, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, my redeemer. It’s his strength that can help me overcome this addiction. I can’t tell you how. He raised Jesus from the dead; healed the lame; cast out demons from people. He can deliver and heal me of this addiction.
Limitless God, Strength beyond comprehension
God knows my strengths. He knows my weaknesses.
Psalms 51:17 KJV "The sacrifices of God, are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. O God, thou will not despise. http://www.biblestudyforyou.com
What this verse tells me is that: We must acknowledge our sins with a broken spirit. We should have a broken and contrite (repented) heart. God will not despise us, and He will meet us where we are.
The Call to Love Without Return
God is helping me overcome this addiction. I no longer see it as a hindrance. I see it as a means to glorify Him.
Grace in Weakness
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.“(2 Corinthians 12:9) http://www.biblestudyforyou.com.
Paul prayed three times for the thorn to be removed. God did not take it away. God gave grace.
Does this mean I take advantage of God’s grace? No, not at all. I’m learning through the Holy Spirit that God sees my heart. He sees that I genuinely want to quit vaping, to overcome this addiction.
The flesh is weak. I cannot do it alone. I asked God to help me—
“Do something, Lord. Make me choke with each puff. Interrupt the cycle.”
And you know what? He’s answering. Each day, it’s something new. A moment of discomfort. A whisper of conviction. A reminder of grace. I’m not quitting alone. I’m surrendering daily. And in that surrender, I’m rising.
Now, I see it: Abuse, neglect, betrayal, and loss—they all fed the hardness. Now, I choose to surrender. https://truth-unveiled.org/2025/07/19/revealing-the-concealed/
I choose healing.
I choose Jesus….
A Surrendered Heart
Surrendering is never simple. A life‑changing choice is never easy. It’s a challenge. I could never make such a choice on my own—my heart was hardened. It took something dramatic to get my attention.
If we belong to Him, and we do not look to Him, He will do something dramatic. His intention is to get our attention. A hardened heart resists change. It stiffens at the very notion of it. We turn a blind eye. We prefer complacency and comfort. He will do what He must to reach us.
For me, it came in the conclusion of an 18‑year relationship.
Yes, you read that right. Eighteen years is a long time. Yet it ended in the most unusual way: a text message.
I’m old school—if we’re going to break up, do it in person, not through a text. The end of this relationship was shattering. but over time, it opened my eyes to truths that had been hidden in plain sight.
The breakup that changed everything
A shattered and broken heart. Endless rivers of tears. A foggy mind filled with hopeless dreams—gone.
“What’s wrong with me?” I asked. “Something must be wrong with me to fail at a relationship.”
In the pit of heartbreak and despair, drowning in rivers of tears, Jesus met me.
He placed His arms around me and lifted me up.
He said: “I got you, my daughter. I’m here. Come to Me and listen. Remember, I never left you. Give Me your heart, and I will heal it and strengthen it.”
And in that moment, it wasn’t just words. I saw Him. His presence was real, undeniable, and it marked the beginning of what came next. He lifted me up, comforted me. And reminded me of His nearness—a nearness that had been with me all along.
The beginning of the Heart of Flesh
"A new heart will I give you. A new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. I will give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26
This is what hardness of heart does: it makes us forget. Forgetting keeps us bound. Remembering sets us free. Scripture says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Our hearts should be sprinkled from an evil conscience. Our bodies must be washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22). http://www.biblestudyforyou.com
We forget God’s presence; we remain enslaved to fear, pain, and addiction. As we remember, we recall His faithfulness even in childhood cries. In the pit of brokenness, we step into freedom. Remembering is the key that unlocks the chains. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, revealed memories of my past. He didn’t recall them to punish me.
Rather, He showed me these memories, allowing me to repent of them and begin my healing from them. Even with this, when we dedicate our lives to Jesus and live a new life with Him, we need guidance. And so, I made the call..
Freedom From Pride and Misplaced Hope
Hard Truth, Lesson Learned
Later, I sought guidance from a pastor. Someone I knew not too well, but well enough to know who he was and what he was about.
My sister is married to a man who is a pastor. I thought, “Why Not call him?” I don’t go to church. And it would be too awkward to just walk up in a church and talk to a random pastor. No, I needed someone I felt at ease with.
In the past, my brother-in-law and I would talk. At that time, he was a “Teacher” of the word of God. I struggled with this belief system. They seemed extreme. But this time I was ready to hear what he had to say. I was serious about my decision to walk with Jesus. I needed to speak with him, so I invited him up to sit with me and my kids. Do this as a family.
Something wasn’t Right
Everything seemed great for the first couple of years. We were learning things about Jesus and the scriptures. My kids were asking questions. But after a while, I started noticing something was off.
My daughters were becoming distant and moody. My personal appointments started becoming more argumentative. We were being blamed for things we had nothing to do with. Nothing was making sense.
Yet, beauty came from this. We were all speaking to God more than we ever have. Praying more, reading the bible more. Still, none of us can shake the uneasy feeling we were having.
My daughters felt they were being dismissed by the pastor. Not heard. His voice was all that they listened to. Questions? Oh No! Not at all. It was about him. Not about our relationship or the lack of it with Jesus. But about the pastor’s relationship with God.
He gave us some of his teachings that he came up with himself. In it were three particular questions encouraged to ask God about. So, I did!
I asked the designed question by this pastor (my brother in law) to God. “What is it about my inner personal relationship with my God ordained headship? How would you, Father God, have me offer this for ministry?”
The Truth That Shook Us
I asked that question to God. I received mind-blowing revelations. These revelations just threw me and my daughters into the frenzied “AH HA” state of mind. Things started making more sense.
The first revelation: Isaiah 30:1
"Woe to the rebellious children. The LORD declares woe to those who take counsel that is not from Him. They cover with a covering but not of His Spirit. They add sin to sin."
I received: "You sought counsel from monist men rather than seeking my guidance. Heeded his word, and now you're covered under him.
You did not seek me; you went on your own, and now you come to me with all these concerns. If you had first come to Me as you should have, there would be no concerns.
Now that you're here. Listen, my daughter. It is not wisdom to seek counsel from this man. His intentions are not good. He is not of me. Turn your heart back to me and learn from me. As it is said.
The evidence of Pride and Hardness of Heart
The Second Revelation: Luke 18:9-14
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. They also despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee, and the other was a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. They are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." I fast twice in a week, and I give tithes of all that I possess. The publican stood far away. He would not lift up his eyes unto heaven. He smote upon his breast and said, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. Everyone who exalts himself shall be abased. He who humbles himself shall be exalted."
What this verse tells me: "We observed and felt that the pastor was prideful. He was boastful. In contrast, we were humble. We acknowledged we were sinners. He proclaimed, "I'm a sinless, righteous son of God; I do not recognize sin. Because I'm of Jesus, and so I am sinless." The arrogance and the pride. The hardness of Heart so obvious.
The truth is: We are all sinners in need of God. To say we are sinless is deceiving ourselves and very wrong to the very core of it. It was shameful to hear. My daughter's distraught. I'm confused! Like Whoa! who does he think he is?
Needless to say, we haven't spoken to this pastor since. Nor do I have any intentions of reaching out to him. Though he is family. He's married to my sister.
Hardness of Heart isn’t personal
Hardness of heart isn’t just personal—it’s global. Pride and hardness go hand in hand. Look at the world today: prideful proclamations, rebellion, denial of God. The stage is being set for deception.
Regardless of ethnicity, race, color, or sex, everyone is full of hardness of heart. We shrug and scoff at the very core of Christianity. We need to turn our hearts back to God.
The Journey to Overcoming
The journey to overcoming a hardened heart is simply… MAKE a choice.
We only have two choices: God or Satan. Life or death.
Change doesn’t happen because we “try harder.” Change happens when we return to our True Love—God. He is our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It’s not enough to just believe. We must follow Jesus. Lay down the life we live now, pick up our cross, and follow Him.
It’s not easy. It won’t be a bed of roses. But the reward is eternal.
Pride was the first sin. A Prideful heart is the root of hardness. Pride keeps us enslaved. But Jesus came to free us.
And freedom begins when we pause, lay down our pride, pick up our cross, and choose Jesus.
Closing Invitation
Dear Reader,
The testimony you read is my own. It unveils the hardness of heart and the pride that traveled with me. I faced these feelings through the hardships I have encountered, overcome, and am still overcoming. I pray God spoke to you through my testimony. Truths are often hard to swallow. They offend only because we covet the comfort of complacency. Yet they are also an invitation: to repent, to heal, to surrender.
The hardened heart resists. Pride blinds. But Jesus redeems.
The choice is yours: life or death. Hardness or healing. Pride or surrender.
Your breakthrough to redemption is just a choice away. Are you ready?
I pray the Lord of Hosts brings clarity to your heart and opens the door within. His voice is a whisper, but He is always there, waiting for you to turn to Him.
In Jesus Christ’s Name — the name above all names. Amen.
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