Hardiness, in a biblical context, refers to the quality of enduring difficult conditions with resilience and strength. This concept is often associated with spiritual fortitude, perseverance, and the ability to withstand trials and tribulations while maintaining faith and integrity. The Bible provides numerous examples and teachings that illustrate the importance of hardiness in the life of a believer.

Biblical Examples of Hardiness

1. Job: The account of Job is a profound example of hardiness. Despite losing his wealth, health, and family, Job remained steadfast in his faith. He endured immense suffering and yet declared, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him" (Job 13:15). Job's resilience is a testament to unwavering faith in the face of adversity.

2. Paul the Apostle: The Apostle Paul exemplified hardiness through his missionary journeys and the hardships he faced. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, Paul recounts his sufferings, including imprisonments, beatings, and shipwrecks. Despite these trials, Paul remained committed to spreading the Gospel, demonstrating spiritual resilience and dedication.

3. Daniel: Daniel's life in Babylon is another illustration of hardiness. Despite being in a foreign land and facing threats to his life, Daniel remained faithful to God. His refusal to compromise his beliefs, even when faced with the lion's den, showcases his steadfastness and trust in God's protection (Daniel 6).

Teachings on Hardiness

1. Perseverance in Trials: The New Testament frequently encourages believers to endure hardships with patience and faith. James 1:2-4 states, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." This passage highlights the refining nature of trials and the growth that results from enduring them.

2. Strength in Weakness: The concept of finding strength in weakness is central to Christian hardiness. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 , Paul writes, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me." This teaching emphasizes reliance on God's strength rather than one's own, fostering resilience through divine empowerment.

3. Hope and Endurance: Romans 5:3-5 speaks to the hope that sustains believers through trials: "Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." This passage underscores the transformative power of enduring hardships with hope rooted in God's love.

Practical Application

Believers are encouraged to cultivate hardiness by deepening their relationship with God, engaging in regular prayer and study of Scripture, and participating in a community of faith. By doing so, they can draw strength from God's promises and the support of fellow believers. Additionally, practicing gratitude and maintaining an eternal perspective can help Christians remain resilient in the face of life's challenges, trusting that God is working all things for their good (Romans 8:28).1. (n.) Capability of endurance.

2. (n.) Hardihood; boldness; firmness; assurance.

3. (n.) Hardship; fatigue.

HARD; HARDINESS; HARDDINESS; HARDLY

hard, har'-di-nes, hard'-nes, hard'-li (qasheh, pala'; skleros): The senses in which hard is used may be distinguished as:

(1) "Firm," "stiff," opposite to soft: Job 41:24, yatsaq, "to be firm," "his heart. as hard as a piece of the nether millstone," the Revised Version (British and American) "firm"; Ezekiel 3:7, qasheh, "sharp," "hard of heart"; chazaq, "firm," "As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead"; Jeremiah 5:3, "They have made their faces harder than a rock"; Proverbs 21:29, `azaz, "to make strong," "hard," "impudent," "a wicked man hardeneth his face"; Proverbs 13:15 probably belongs here also where 'ethan is translated "hard": "The way of the transgressor is hard," the English Revised Version "The way of the treacherous is rugged"; the Hebrew word means, "lasting," "firm," poet. "rocks" (the earth's foundations, Micah 6:2), and the meaning seems to be, not that the way (path) of transgressors, or the treacherous (Delitzsch has "uncultivated"), is hard (rocky) to them, but that their way, or mode of acting, is hard, unsympathetic, unkind, "destitute of feeling in things which, as we say, would soften a stone" (Delitzsch on passage); also Matthew 25:24, skleros, "stiff," "thou art a hard man"; The Wisdom of Solomon 11:4, skleros, "hard stone," the Revised Version (British and American) "flinty rock," margin "the steep rock."

(2) "Sore," "trying," "painful," qasheh (Exodus 1:14, "hard service"; Deuteronomy, 26:6 2 Samuel 3:39 Psalm 60:3 Isaiah 14:3); qashah "to have it hard" (Genesis 35:16, 17 Deuteronomy 15:18); `athaq, "stiff" (Psalm 94:4 the King James Version, "They utter and speak hard things"); skleros (John 6:60, "This is a hard saying"-hard to accept, hard in its nature; Acts 9:5 the King James Version; Acts 26:14 Jude 1:15, "hard speeches"; The Wisdom of Solomon 19:13).

(3) "Heavy," "pressing hard," kabhedh, "weighty" (Ezekiel 3:5, 6, "a people of a strange speech and of a hard language," the Revised Version margin (Hebrew) "deep of lip and heavy of tongue"); camakh, "to lay" (Psalm 88:7, "Thy wrath lieth hard upon me").

(4) "Difficult," "hard to do," "know," etc., pala', "difficult to be done" (Genesis 18:14, "Is anything too hard for Yahweh?"; Jeremiah 32:17, 27 Deuteronomy 17:8 2 Samuel 13:2); qasheh (Exodus 18:26, "hard causes"); qashah (Deuteronomy 1:17 2 Kings 2:10); chidhah, "something twisted," "involved," "an enigma"; compare Judges 14:14 (1 Kings 10:1 2 Chronicles 9:1, "to prove Solomon with hard questions"); 'ahidhan, Aramaic (Daniel 5:12); duskolos, literally, "difficult about food," "hard to please," hence, "difficult to accomplish" (Mark 10:24, "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God"); dusnoetos, "hard to be understood" (Hebrews 5:11 2 Peter 3:16; compare Ecclesiasticus 3:21, "things too hard for thee," chalepos).

(5) "Close," or "near to" (hard by), naghash, "to come nigh" (Judges 9:52, the American Standard Revised Version "near"); dabhaq and dabheq, "to follow hard after" (Judges 20:45 Psalm 63:8, etc.); 'etsel, "near" (1 Kings 21:1); le'ummath, "over against" (Leviticus 3:9); `adh, "to" "even to" (1 Chronicles 19:4, the King James Version "hard by," the Revised Version (British and American) "even to").

Hardiness occurs in Judith 16:10 thrasos, the Revised Version (British and American) "boldness."

Hardness is the translation of mutsaq, "something poured out," "dust wetted," "running into clods" (Job 38:38), the Revised Version (British and American) "runneth into a mass"; "hardness of heart" occurs in the Gospels; in Mark 3:5, it is porosis, "hardness," "callousness"; Matthew 19:8 Mark 10:5; Mark 16:14, sklerokardia, "dryness," "stiffness of heart"; compare Ecclesiasticus 16:10; in Romans 2:5, it is sklerotes; in 2 Timothy 2:3 the King James Version we have, "Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," the Revised Version (British and American) "Suffer hardship with me" (corrected text), margin "Take thy part in suffering hardship" (kakopatheo, "to suffer evil").

Hardly occurs in the Old Testament (Exodus 13:15), "Pharaoh would hardly let us go," qashah, literally, "hardened to let us go," the Revised Version margin "hardened himself against letting us go"; "hardly bestead" (Isaiah 8:21) is the translation of qadshah, the American Standard Revised Version "sore distressed." In the New Testament "hardly" is the translation of duskolos, "hard to please," "difficult," meaning not scarcely or barely, but with difficulty (Matthew 19:23, "A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven," the Revised Version (British and American) "it is hard for"; Mark 10:23 Luke 18:24, "how hardly" ("with what difficulty")); of mogis, "with labor," "pain," "trouble" (Luke 9:39, "hardly departeth from him" ("painfully")); of molis "with toil and fatigue" (Acts 27:8, the Revised Version (British and American) "with difficulty"; The Wisdom of Solomon 9:16, "Hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth"; Ecclesiasticus 26:29, "A merchant shall hardly keep himself from wrong doing"; 29:6, "He shall hardly receive the half," in each instance the word is molis, but in the last two instances we seem to see the transition to "scarcely"; compare also Exodus 13:15).

The Revised Version has "too hard" for "hidden" (Deuteronomy 30:11, margin "wonderful"); "hardness" for "boldness" (of face) (Ecclesiastes 8:1); for "sorrow" (Lamentations 3:65); "deal hardly with me" for "make yourselves strong to me" (Job 19:3); omits "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 9:5, corrected text); "hardship" for "trouble" (2 Timothy 2:9).

W. L. Walker

3581. koach -- a small reptile (of unknown species)
... root meaning to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or
figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large ...
/hebrew/3581.htm - 5k

Essay i. Fortuna Plerumque Est Veluti Galaxia Quarundam Obscurarum ...
... magnanimity. Hardihood and fool-hardiness are indeed as different as green
and yellow, yet will appear the same to the jaundiced eye. ...
/.../confessions of an inquiring spirit etc/essay i fortuna plerumque est.htm

A Caution to the Presumptuous
... Satan inspires fool-hardiness, styles it courage, and bids the man rush to the cannon's
mouth for "bubble reputation." God creates in man holy fear. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 1 1855/a caution to the presumptuous.htm

That Many of the Sicarii Fled to Alexandria Also and what Dangers ...
... the Egyptian Thebes, it was not long ere they were caught also, and brought back,
whose courage, or whether we ought to call it madness, or hardiness in their ...
/.../chapter 10 that many of.htm

Essay iii. Si Partem Tacuisse Velim, Quodeumque Relinquam, Majus ...
... Courage, he said, was the natural product of familiarity with danger, which
thoughtlessness would oftentimes turn into fool-hardiness; and that he always found ...
/.../confessions of an inquiring spirit etc/essay iii si partem tacuisse.htm

Death Passed Upon all by Sin.
... of one upon all men unto justification of life." [2790] Who is there that has turned
a deaf ear to these apostolical words with such hardiness of wicked impiety ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 8 death passed upon all.htm

How one of the Towers Erected by the Romans Fell Down of Its Own ...
... encouraged by their power, joined to their skill, as were the Jews by their boldness,
which was nourished by the fear they were in, and that hardiness which is ...
/.../chapter 7 how one of.htm

The Heinous Sin of Profane Cursing and Swearing
... But alas! little do they think that such a behavior argues the greatest degeneracy
of mind and fool-hardiness, that can possibly be thought of. ...
/.../whitefield/selected sermons of george whitefield/the heinous sin of profane.htm

Peter after his Escape
... All depends on the circumstances of each case. Prudence is an element in
courage, and courage without it is fool-hardiness. There ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/peter after his escape.htm

Cestius Sends Ambassadors to Nero. The People of Damascus Slay ...
... He also continually instructed them ill what concerned the courage of the soul,
and the hardiness of the body; and, above all, he exercised them for war, by ...
/.../chapter 9 cestius sends ambassadors.htm

After what Manner Upon the Death of Claudius, Nero Succeeded in ...
... And such was the impudence [21] and boldness that had seized on the high priests,
that they had the hardiness to send their servants into the threshing-floors ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 8 after what manner.htm

Hardiness
... 2. (n.) Hardihood; boldness; firmness; assurance. 3. (n.) Hardship; fatigue. Int.
Standard Bible Encyclopedia. HARD; HARDINESS; HARDDINESS; HARDLY. ...
/h/hardiness.htm - 15k

Hardly (26 Occurrences)
... 5. (adv.) Confidently; hardily. 6. (adv.) Certainly; surely; indeed. Int. Standard
Bible Encyclopedia. HARD; HARDINESS; HARDDINESS; HARDLY. ...
/h/hardly.htm - 23k

Harddiness
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia HARD; HARDINESS; HARDDINESS; HARDLY. hard,
har'-di-nes, hard'-nes, hard'-li (qasheh, pala'; skleros ...
/h/harddiness.htm - 14k

Hard (733 Occurrences)
... for the natural mind to understand (compare 6:52). HARD; HARDINESS; HARDDINESS;
HARDLY. hard, har'-di-nes, hard'-nes, hard'-li (qasheh ...
/h/hard.htm - 18k

Conscience (36 Occurrences)
... What was virtuous in Athens might be sinful in Jerusalem; what is admired as
heroism in Japan may be despised as fool-hardiness in Britain. ...
/c/conscience.htm - 37k

Hard-heartedness (1 Occurrence)
Hard-heartedness. Hardheartedness, Hard-heartedness. Hardiness . Multi-Version
Concordance ... Hardheartedness, Hard-heartedness. Hardiness . Reference Bible
/h/hard-heartedness.htm - 6k

Hardiness: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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