A pain in the neck will always be a pain in the neck

    That sounds like a defeatist attitude. The assumption is that people won’t change, so why bother? Surely we believe people can change by the power of the Holy Spirit. But they must be willing.
    And some are not willing to be changed. They are set in their sinful ways. There is something within them that rebels against everything godly. They desire their own identity and way of thinking completely apart from God.

“Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy” (Rev 22:11).

    I found it interesting that several verses before, the people of God are said to have the name of Jesus written on their foreheads (Rev 21:4). In the Old Testament, the Israelites were instructed to have the laws of God on their foreheads (“between your eyes”) as a sign that they belong to God (Deut 6:8). Satan also will demand that people should have the “mark of the Beast” on their foreheads (Rev 13:15-17).
    Their forehead represents their mind, which reflects the state of their hearts. We are talking about hearts that are completely focused away from God. From the depths of their hearts, they are focused on doing evil. There’s no turning back.
    The righteous are focused on God and the things that please him. Their hearts are focused toward whatever is pure and holy.
    Changing the inner leaning of their hearts is a task that only God can do. He can do it if the people are willing to change.
 
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