I became accustomed to the twinging pain after a while. At first, my sensitive fingertips were sore and screaming for relief when I began picking on the guitar over thirteen years ago. Pressing down on the nickel strings, bending them for that twang sound, and sliding from fret to fret to look like Stevie Ray Vaughn made my cushy fingertips calloused. When it was all new, it stung so badly that playing the air guitar seemed preferable. But over time, calluses formed on my fingers, melting away all sensitivity to fingertip pain for good.
A callus on the fingertip may be helpful, but a callus growing on the heart and mind is eternally hazardous. For this reason, the word of God sounds the alarm on the destructiveness of callousness, which refers to a deadened sensitivity to sin. According to Paul, the minds of unbelievers are callous—insensitive to iniquity, torpid to transgression, and unresponsive to ungodliness (Eph. 4:19). In fact, the conscience of an unsaved person can even be cauterized or “seared” so that it is numb to evil and its everlasting repercussions (1 Tim. 4:2). And it is possible for even Christians to become calloused to crookedness, indifferent to impiety, lethargic toward lawlessness, and “dull of hearing” (Matt. 13:15; Heb. 5:11).
Calluses form gradually, too. Mine did not grow overnight, but through practicing and playing the guitar for over a decade—and likewise, our sensitivity to evil gradually lessens the more we play with it. We begin by accepting our sin, and telling ourselves, “Just sinning this once won’t hurt.” Then we progress to advocating our sin, thinking, “Well, my sin isn’t as bad as everyone else’s!” And soon enough, we move on to approval of our sin, saying, “This sin isn’t too bad after all.” And once we get to the point where sin no longer makes us blush (Jer. 6:15), we have become callous.
How can you know if you have become callous? Think about your reactions to sin in your life and in the world. Do you gasp when you hear about the infanticide of abortion taking place in our country? Do profanities and graphic scenes on television make you sick to your spiritual stomach to the point where you turn it off? And when you fall into temptation, are you overcome with godly sorrow, or do you make excuses for it?
Thankfully, spiritual callousness can be cured by the salve of Christ’s healing grace and through repentance and renunciation of sins that cause calluses (Rev. 3:19). If calluses have formed on your heart and mind, let Jesus apply His balm to make you sensitive to sin again, and instead of repeating the evils that make you indifferent, repent of them. Moreover, deepen your knowledge of what is right from the Scripture. Knowing the word of God is the only way to know our wretchedness (Romans 7:13, 24). Have you become calloused?
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:
Brandon's Desk 
I’m callus how can I even get out of this I make mistakes all the time I’m not perfect and i want to serve God but how long will this take to cure and does sensitivity toward my sins come back also for the sini struggle with to if I stop making it a habit
Thanks for your comments and question. The first thing to be sure of is your relationship with the Lord. The only way you can begin to have a softened and sensitive conscience is by coming to know Jesus as your Savior and Lord. After that happens, I believe the Lord will further soften our conscience by the preaching of His word, fellowship with His people, and time spent in prayer. In other words, get in a good, Jesus-loving, and Bible-preaching church where you can hear the word faithfully proclaimed and be held to account and supported by fellow Christians. And you can’t go wrong spending more time in prayer!
Have u been callous toward your sin please I don’t want the Lord to leave me I have sinned so much and feel no conviction am I still saved please I’m scared I’m only 15 I’m crying cause I want hope I still want jesus
Certainly, I have. I have backslidden from the Lord numerous times. We are all great sinners, my friend. But God never abandons those who truly know Him, no matter how sinful they are. Sometimes, we feel distant from God because of our sin, and in such times, we need to repent of our sins (turn away from them and cease committing them), and walk in fellowship with the Lord again (which includes praying, attending a faithful church, and getting into the Bible).
That’s what happened with Peter. He denied that he even knew Christ three times. He felt conviction for it when he wept bitterly. And then he turned away from his sins and toward Christ, and his fellowship with Jesus was restored.
You seem to be genuinely concerned for your salvation and relationship with the Lord, and that is conviction, my friend. That’s always a good thing. Conviction should lead us to repentance and restoration. Cry out to Him in genuine repentance, and keep trusting in Jesus for your eternal salvation, and He will meet you where you are.
But when I sinned back then I used to feel shame and guilt and now I don’t and I want to feel that again and does affect all the sins u do I’m speaking of callousness or the certain one u commit all the time and what do u mean by God never abandons us who truly now him I want to live with him and I thank u for your help
My counsel to you would be to ask for God’s help in making your heart and conscience more sensitive. One of the issues with habitual sins is that the more we commit them, the more comfortable we are with them over time. Thus, we must repent of such sins and allow God to make our hearts tender and our consciences more sensitive through means which He has provided: His word, His people, and prayer. Friend, over time, as you faithfully read and study the Scripture, spend time in fellowship with His people in a Bible-believing church, and seek His face in prayer, He will certainly increase your sense of shame toward your sin. He has done so for me many times.
Do we become callous by sinning then repenting and doing again and agian
Hey there, thanks for reading and thanks for the question.
Yes, callousness sets in when we continually commit sin. However, true repentance is the opposite of habitual sinning. And the only way to eliminate a habitual sin is to make a habit of repentance. And repentance is a conscious and deliberate “turning away” from sin. Repentance is when we forsake our sins and do everything we can, through God’s strength and grace, to eliminate it from our hearts and lives.
Hey are u still saved as a Christian if your heart is calloused toward sin
Hey there,
Thank you for reading and thank you for the question.
True believers can be calloused toward their sins for a season, but not forever. True believers possess the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and He will convict a believer of his or her sin, leading to continual repentance.
And consider Peter, for instance. He denied that he even knew Christ three times. Certainly, that was time when he was calloused toward his sins. But eventually, he felt conviction for it when he wept bitterly. And then he turned away from his sins and toward Christ, and his fellowship with Jesus was restored.
Are u still saved if your calloused toward sin
Hey there,
Thank you for reading and thank you for the question.
True believers can be calloused toward their sins for a season, but not forever. True believers possess the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and He will convict a believer of his or her sin, leading to continual repentance.
And consider Peter, for instance. He denied that he even knew Christ three times. Certainly, that was time when he was calloused toward his sins. But eventually, he felt conviction for it when he wept bitterly. And then he turned away from his sins and toward Christ, and his fellowship with Jesus was restored.
why cant I feel conviction over anything anymore I was saved three years ago when your callous to sin is it herd to feel conviction
Hey there,
There could be several reasons for a lack of conviction. If you have never been saved through repenting of your sins and believing fully in Jesus Christ and His finished work for your salvation, then it is impossible to experience any lasting conviction. But if you have been truly saved, the Spirit of God dwells within you, and He works in a believer’s heart a lot like a check-engine light on a car’s dashboard: He alerts you when something is wrong. Thus, when you think about sin, are tempted to sin, or commit sin, the Spirit of God will bother your conscience and trouble your heart because He leads you into all truth; and all sin is living in contradiction to the truth.
However, as I’ve mentioned throughout this comment section, the Spirit’s “conviction” in the believer’s heart is also largely depending upon using the means He has provided to bring it about: the Scripture, prayer, repentance, and the church. In other words, if we are not reading the Scripture daily, the Scripture which confronts our sins, portrays God in His glory and majesty, and reveals our spiritual duties which we often neglect, then we will become calloused. Additionally, if we neglect time in prayer or time in fellowship with God’s people in a Bible-believing church, we will become calloused as well, and thus, hinder conviction. And if we are not constantly made aware of our sins through these means, we will not be led to repentance, which is also essential for combatting callousness.
I look at it like this: in the devotion, I talk about how my fingers were essentially numb and insensitive from years of playing guitar. And the only way to “re-sensitize” them would be to (1) stop playing guitar, and (2) use ointment to heal my fingertips. In the same way, the only way for a believer to feel conviction and be re-sensitized to sin is to (1) stop playing with sin (repentance), and (2) use “God’s ointment” of Scripture, prayer, repentance, and faithful church attendance/involvement, to bring about healing.
Hope this helps. I’m praying for you. Please ask any further questions you may have. I’m happy to continue this conversation with you!
so we can become callous or harden by sinning and repenting again and again
Hey there,
Yes, we can become calloused many times over. But here’s the key:
I look at it like this: in the devotion, I talk about how my fingers were essentially numb and insensitive from years of playing guitar. And the only way to “re-sensitize” them would be to (1) stop playing guitar, and (2) use ointment to heal my fingertips. In the same way, the only way for a believer to feel conviction and be re-sensitized to sin is to (1) stop playing with sin (repentance), and (2) use “God’s ointment” of Scripture, prayer, repentance, and faithful church attendance/involvement, to bring about healing.
Hope this helps. I’m praying for you. Please ask any further questions you may have. I’m happy to continue this conversation with you!