Day 49: Hebrews 3:13

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”



Sin is a seriously slippery slope. Unless we watch ourselves, we can begin to harden our hearts to it, so that soon sin becomes habitual.


Why is it like that? We sin to please ourselves. We do things we shouldn’t but that feel good, we lie to sidestep the consequences of our actions, we are selfish because it’s gratifying to ourselves and easier than loving others.


And it’s habit forming. We may sin once and think we got away with it, promising ourselves that we’ll never do that again. The next time that temptation rears its ugly little head, it’s that much easier because last time we didn’t get caught.


Sin is deceitful. Is promises us something in the moment, without thought to short-term, long-term, or eternal consequences.


The author of Hebrews tells us here that we need to be exhorting one another daily to keep from this. What is exhorting? Basically, it’s encouraging other people with words and pleading with them not to sin, or to come clean from their sin.


This is one of the benefits of being in community, or a church. We have people around us that care enough about us to be worried about our life and if sin has crept in.


We need to have the love and courage to do this for the people around us, and not get offended when they do the same for us.


Christianity today calls this accountability. It’s a good idea to find someone that doesn’t mind asking you the hard questions about your life, and who has the courage to say the right thing to you when you step out of line. The flip side of this is that you do the same for them. If you are in the right accountability relationship, this can be one of the most gratifying friendships that you have.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Sin can harden our heart, but God puts us into community so that we can encourage and exhort one another to come clean of our sin.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Galatians 6:1-10


Prayer: Father, don’t let sin harden my heart. Put people into my life that care enough to hold me accountable, and help me be that person to someone else. In Christ’s name, amen.