"Don't make me say it again."
"This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you."
"One ... two ... two and a half ..."
Moms and dads have a plethora of phrases that they can draw from when launching into discipline mode. Parents know that discipline is a part of life. A big part of life, in fact. But in thinking about what it means to grow in Christ, we don't typically like to think about the discipleship that comes through discipline.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us in 12:7-11 that just as we discipline our own children, so God disciplines His, and that His discipline is for the purpose of our growth. But reflecting on this passage dramatically changes the way we view the discipline of the Lord. It re-frames our understanding of discipline in at least four ways.
1. Discipline is a mark of love.
When things don't go the way we think they should in life, there's often a creeping, prosperity-esque thought that comes to our minds: Doesn't God love me? Because surely if He did, this wouldn't have happened. Hebrews 12:7-11 torpedoes that line of thinking out of the water.
The discipline of the Lord isn't evidence of His lack of love; it's proof of it. In fact, if we never received discipline from God, that's when we should be concerned about His love. He disciplines us because
He's not only our Father; He disciplines us because He's the greatest Father imaginable. The evidence of that greatness is His discipline for our good.
2. Discipline's goal is corrective, not punitive.
Once we get past the Doesn't God love me? kind of thinking, this close thought-cousin often comes next:
Why is God punishing me? It might seem like mere semantics, but it's important for us to remember that the discipline of the Lord is corrective rather than punitive. His goal isn't ultimately for us to feel the pain of a cosmic spanking; it's for us to share in His holiness. It's for us to learn. It's for us to be conformed to His image.
Of course it hurts. No discipline feels good, whether it's from the Lord or whether it's the self-imposed discipline of eating healthy. We want to eat the extra piece of chocolate cake just like we want to sleep in rather than spend time in God's Word. But just because it hurts doesn't mean it's not good. And if we're convinced of the love of God, which He has fully displayed in the sacrifice of Jesus, then we can rest that it's indeed for our good. Furthermore, we can also know that the punishment for our sin has been fully laid on Jesus. God's not holding back a little wrath for us now and then. He has poured it out. What we now feel is the kind and loving hand of the Father's correction.
3. Discipline, because it isn't punitive, might be proactive rather than responsive.
This is where discipline gets really tough because our immediate reaction is to look within ourselves to see if there's latent sin or attitude that the Lord is removing. There might not be. It might instead be the discipline of the Lord in a proactive sense.
God knows the end before the beginning. He knows the challenge before it's presented. He knows the strength needed while the knees are still feeble. Because He does, we can accept His discipline in faith knowing that, though it might seem pointless in the moment, it's certainly not without merit.
4. Discipline should be expected and welcomed.
By God's grace, there will come a day when we're so committed to sharing in the holiness of the Lord that we welcome the pain and difficulty. We're convinced of His love. We're sure of His purposes. Because we are, our arms are open. But let's be careful, lest we think those arms are open and there's a grinning face behind them. There isn't.
The attitude isn't one of glee but of resolve; it's of joy but maybe not necessarily happiness. And perhaps, in this moment - this moment that we trust is making us like Jesus — is one in which we actually are beginning to feel like Jesus, who endured the cross not with a flippant smile but with resolute faith for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).
Knowing these things are true, we're well armed for the exhortation the writer puts before us next:
"Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead" (Hebrews 12:12-13).
Amen.
This article is courtesy of HomeLife Magazine.