The Holy Spirit warms us and melts our cold, cold hearts. Here is a parable that tells the story:
Once upon a time there was a piece of iron, which was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed.
“I’ll master it,” said the axe… and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the axe’s edge more blunt, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration.
“Leave it to me,” said the saw… and it worked back and forth on the iron’s surface until its jagged teeth were all worn and broken. Then in despair, the saw quit trying and fell to the side.
“Ah!” said the hammer, “I knew you two wouldn’t succeed. I’ll show you how to do this!” But at the first fierce blow, off flew its head and the piece of iron remained just as before, proud and hard and unchanged.
“Shall I try?” asked the small soft flame. “Forget it,” everyone else said. “What can you do? You’re too small and you have no strength.”
But the small soft flame curled around the piece of iron, embraced it… and never left it until it melted under its warm irresistible influence.
God’s way is not the way of force but love. God’s way is not to break hearts but to melt them. Perhaps it means that that is our calling – to melt hearts… under the irresistible warmth of God’s gracious love.
Thanks to James W. Moore for sharing.
Think of a time when YOU tried to force YOUR way or YOUR opinion on a young person or another person only to discover that only YOUR love could make a difference.
IF THERE’S A GOLIATH IN FRONT OF YOU, THAT MEANS THERE IS A DAVID INSIDE OF YOU!
Every day I now provide a Commentary and a Prayer Reflection of the Daily Treat on my Podcast. I invite you to please listen to the above Podcast. Here is the text of what you would be missing today —
My Commentary: The Fire That Melts, Not Breaks
This parable is a profound meditation on how change—true, deep, and lasting transformation—rarely comes through force or confrontation, but through the persistent, patient warmth of love.
The axe, the saw, and the hammer all represent the harsh methods we sometimes employ: sharp words, relentless arguments, and forceful demands. These tools of pressure and power may seem effective at first, but they often fail to reach the human heart. They break themselves before they change the other.
But the flame—the Holy Spirit—acts differently. It does not strike, cut, or pound. It simply draws near, surrounds, and warms. It melts. In Scripture, the Spirit is often depicted as fire: not a destructive blaze, but a refining, gentle flame that burns away pride and fear and kindles love and transformation.
God does not overpower our will. God waits, draws near, embraces. Like the flame, He changes us not by force but by intimacy, persistence, and grace.
The parable invites us to ask: when have we been the axe, the saw, or the hammer—believing that our sharpness, persistence, or force would bring about change? And when have we seen love do what power could not?
The message is simple but revolutionary: to melt hearts, we must become flames—soft, warm, constant, and surrendered to the Spirit.
My Prayer Reflection:
Come, Holy Spirit, gentle Flame of God,
Draw near to me with your warmth and light.
Melt the hardness within me—
The pride, the fear, the coldness of indifference.
Teach me to abandon the tools of force,
The sharp words, the stubborn will, the heavy hand.
Let me instead burn with the fire of divine love—
Quiet, persistent, and transformative.
When I face someone who resists me,
Let me not conquer, but love.
Let my presence be like that small soft flame,
Never leaving, always warming, patiently melting.
Lord, remind me that hearts do not open through force,
But through kindness, compassion, and enduring grace.
Make me a bearer of that holy fire,
So that in me, Your Spirit may be felt and known.
Amen.
