While the true meaning of evil can be debated and often be hard to define, the truth is that you will know an evil person when you meet them. Those with wicked hearts can be detected easily when you know what signs to look out for.

Evil people can come from all places and sometimes where you wouldn't expect. But they can be people at your schools, local churches, or in the homes of our neighborhood. Unfortunately, it can be easy to fall out of a relationship with God and quickly bring Satan into our hearts. Evil can manifest rapidly and cause hearts to become cold, hardened and empty. Any good that is left within them will be overtaken by evil if they aren't careful. They then will begin to leech on you and begin to try and infest your heart with wickedness as well.

Here are the signs you need to look out for when understanding if you are dealing with a wicked person.

Remorseless.

When a person feels no conviction from sinning against God, it's as if a tiny callous starts forming over their heart. With time, a heart can be so hardened that they have no remorse for their actions at all. The less we feel the need to repent and tell God of our sins, the more evil we can become. They simply do not feel sorry for hurting others and will instead find some enjoyment out of it. Suppose you press them on the fact that they're unapologetic for their evil behavior. In that case, they'll deflect, push it off onto you, and gaslight you into thinking the reality you know to be true isn't actually true.

Enjoyment in other's misfortunes.

Someone with a wicked heart will actually find enjoyment in other people's misfortune. Instead of being able to empathize or sympathize with the struggles of others, they will find it funny. They are unable to remember the pain they have also felt when they had bad things happen to them in life. Instead, they rejoice in the suffering of others and feel "better than" them. They may feel lucky that it didn't happen to them or blame the person for their misfortunes. For example, they may say that they brought it up upon themselves. The cold, evil heart is dangerous because it further puts down those who are already hurt.

Controlling and manipulative.

Evil people want to maintain control of everyone in their lives and will use manipulative tactics to do so. They will never admit fault because it would ruin the illusion that they are in control. Often, wicked people will be kind to you only to get something they need from you later, like money. In turn, they can be obsessive about controlling every bit of your life and come off as mean because of it. Defying the wishes of an evil person can result in terrible actions being taken against you. They aren't always obvious and may feel subtle. The goal of the evil person is to control the way you feel on the inside, now how you feel on the outside.

Lack of responsibility.

A wicked heart has no sense of moral compass. They will do whatever they please without taking any responsibility for the pain and hurt it causes others. As long as it makes them feel good, that is all they care about. They don't think about how their actions could impact others, and frankly, they do not care. The evil heart will deflect any blame placed on them. They will never apologize and may even feel like they are owed one instead. They think apologizing is a sign of weakness and would rather have someone else apologize for their mistakes.

No humility.

Those with evil hearts are full of pride and think that they are better than those around them. They have no sense of humility and will come off as conceded and arrogant. They will fight tooth and nail to try and prove that they are always right. This is a direct violation of what the Bible wants us to be like. James 4:6 reads, "God is at war with the proud." Satan's pride is what caused him to rebel against God and fall. Those with wicked hearts, however, have lost the care to show kindness and empathy towards others.

Cruelty.

Some people are subtle about how hardened their hearts are, while others are much more open about it. Not all evil people are sly. Some are very vocal about how cruel they want to be towards others. This can come in various forms, such as getting into fights, emotionally and physically hurting loved ones or even hurting animals. Those who are very evil will push their cruelty too far and do some serious damage that could lead to others going to the hospital or ending up in jail. If you notice this sign in someone, it's important to remove yourself from the relationship quickly.

Desensitized to other evil.

Someone with a cold and wicked heart will not react to the evil in the world the same way you might. Instead of feeling moved emotionally by terrible events, they might act as if it doesn't faze them at all.

They won't care about the suffering of the victims and their families. They have no affliction to the world's negative events. In Psalm 119:71, it says, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes." For the Psalmist, affliction was for the purpose of his learning God's statutes because "Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word" (Psalm 119:67).

Evil people can be incredibly terrifying because they have a complete lack of empathy for others. They will do things that you might think are unimaginable for other humans to do. It's important to avoid people with hardened hearts because it will only leave you broken in the end. God wants us to be surrounded by people who support us, love us, and bring us closer to Him.