Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Relationships and Religion
When ‘Too Good to Be True’ Hardens Our Hearts

When ‘Too Good to Be True’ Hardens Our Hearts

Last updated on: September 27, 2026 at 9:43 am by Mike P. Taylor

0 Comments

When ‘Too Good to Be True’ Hardens Our Hearts 2026-09-27T09:43:38-05:00 Mike P. Taylor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image courtesy of the author.

Why We’re Afraid of Good Things

The phrase “too good to be true” is poison.

It has crept into our psyche like a chemical leak into a water supply.

Its effects are mostly unnoticed, but the damage is slowly wreaking havoc on our lives.

AI has made us suspicious of everything. Every article, video, image, social media post, etc. is up for inspection.

We have to know, “is this real, or is it fake?”

So much in this world is fake, so it’s a valid concern.

But when we get to a place where we’re unwilling to accept something good for fear of it turning out to be empty, we’re getting to a dark place that we have to turn back from.

This is what the Bible describes as a hardened heart.

Jesus said, “the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes.” (Matthew 13:15)

In this context, Jesus is talking about the “soil” of our hearts. Some are receptive, but most are hardened and unwelcoming.

This hardening of the heart comes from pride, which is fueled by excess knowledge.

When we believe we can have the answers to anything we want to know (which is very much where we’re at in society today), we’re tricked into a false sense of security.

We build these walls of knowledge all around us, and we think these walls protect us from uncertainty.

So when one of our walls is challenged, we go into fight or flight, because tearing down a belief we’ve built through mounds of knowledge online feels vulnerable.

The problem is, these walls are built with both truth and lies. And one category of lies is skepticism.

Skepticism is a defense mechanism.

It’s essentially us holding onto something that hurt us in the past and building a wall of knowledge around us so it never happens again.

Skepticism leads to doubt. And doubt keeps us cold – cut off from faith, hope, and love.

Wisdom, on the other hand, eagerly searches for goodness and truth regardless of where it might be found. Regardless of how “too good to be true” it may seem.

But Scripture says, “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason…” (James 3:17)

“Open to reason.”

This means we’re willing. We’re ready to move towards goodness once we see that a truth is tested.

And we are to test wisdom, not blindly follow what sounds good.

Jesus said, “Wisdom is proved right by all her children.” (Luke 7:35)

So examine, test, search it out.

But when we see good fruit from something, when we see that it’s producing goodness – regardless of how unlikely it may seem – then let us not be the kind of people who turn our backs just because it doesn’t line up with our expectations.

Expectations are often the barriers to wisdom.

Pain in the past doesn’t determine future outcomes.

So the next you feel anxiety and uneasiness when things are going well…

Take a moment to address the pain and fear beneath the surface.

Address the wall you’ve built to protect yourself.

Then open up and allow the scared kid inside you to experience the goodness that God intends.

The truth is, it probably is too good to be true.

But doesn’t all of life fall in that category?

And that just might be the point.

Progressive Christian

Health, Fitness and Religion

Uncategorized

About Mike P. Taylor

Mike helps people wrestle with the toughest questions of faith. He's the author of the book Grounded Faith for Practical People and he writes at mikeptaylor.com where he helps people rethink religion for a new generation. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

July 8, 2026

I asked AI to put a percentage on the Bible's accuracy

Next Post

October 1, 2026 Spiritual but Not Religious? Why You Can't Know God Alone

Who had a coat of many colors?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joseph Saul Moses Jacob