I’ve always appreciated the sentiment of the potato/egg comparison, but I’ve also come to realize in recent years that it needs some revision.

You see, we are all made of the same thing: flesh, bone, blood, good experiences and bad ones too.

What’s different isn’t necessarily what we’re made of, since we’re all generally made up of the same thing. No, it’s what’s or rather Who’s inside us that determines whether difficult times harden or soften us.

You see, anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is made new (1 Peter 1:3). As new creations in Him, we are host to the indwelling Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who helps us talk to God and hear Him too (1 Corinthians 6:19, Romans 8:11, John 14:26). Through Christ’s sacrifice and our acceptance of Him as Lord of our lives, we are able to overcome the world just as Christ overcame the world (John 16:33). We have no need to worry (Philippians 4:6-7). No need to fear (Lamentations 3:58). No need to compete with anyone else (2 Corinthians 3:5).

We are called to be a strong people, a confident people (Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 11:1). We were not designed to be a hard people (1 Corinthians 13). We are called to love, to forgive, to teach, to reconcile, to restore and to be all things right and good in the sight of the Lord (Titus 2:7-8, Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 4:8).

Over the past couple of years, I’ve encountered numerous frustrations, known more rejection that I am accustomed to, and felt used and abused more than a few times too. While the enemy tried to use those trials to plant seeds of bitterness, to harden my heart, the truth of God’s Word spoken into my life paired with His mercy, grace, and protection have worked to soften my heart, to make me more aware of the needs and hurts of others, to create in me a compassion I had not known before and a full understanding of the importance of forgiveness and restoration and how to achieve them.

Sweet friends, the next time the water boils don’t let yourself be hardened. Remember Who is inside you. Let God use the rolling boil to shape you into who He would have you to be: a person of strength and compassion, an ambassador of hope and restoration, a Christ-like representative of God’s love.