Discipline of Love

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him.” Hebrews 12:5

I can see the anger that comes upon my children when my husband and I need to discipline them. They just hate it. At that moment, they can immediately justify, rationalize, and minimize whatever they are guilty of doing. As a parent, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. For I know that disciplining them may bring extra consequences to me too. If they need to stay home all weekend, then I need to stay home too. Punishment takes its toll on whoever is involved. However, God tells us that disciplining our children shows them that we love them.

God takes our discipline very seriously too. He does not want us to regard it lightly. By not yielding to His discipline, it delays blessings. God has a heart to bless us, not to hurt us. We need to be disciplined to handle the blessings. Our character needs to be developed in such a way that we can receive more from the Lord without it destroying our integrity or witness. So by regarding His discipline lightly, we will not learn as quickly or as willingly and then we will not be able to receive what God wants to give to us. That hurts God’s heart. God gave His Son, Jesus, and He wants to keep giving. He cannot separate from His giving nature. But He also loves us so much as to not allow us to hurt ourselves with His gracious gifts.

If you are being stretched, bent, and even burnt right now, ask the Lord to help you learn His lesson in it. If we learn the first time, we don’t have to return to this place of discipline.  And remember that “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:11)

~Daily Disciples Devotional~