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Subject 1 What would Bunyan have his readers to learn from this hill? First, note where this hill is situated—it is just a short distance from the Cross. It is often the case that difficulties quickly arise to prove the reality of a new Christian’s conversion. The manner in which a man deals with these difficulties will reveal the authenticity of his profession. Second, Bunyan describes the hill as “steep and high.” To willingly take the difficult path, when easier ones present themselves, requires the Christian spend and exhaust himself in a labor that the world around him thinks is foolish and senseless.  The Hill of Difficulty represents “those circumstances which require peculiar self-denial and exertion.” The struggle that that Hill represented was mostly internal, that is, choosing to deny self and refusing to take the easier paths of pride and self-righteousness.