My child, don’t reject the LORD’s discipline,
and don’t be upset when He corrects you.
For the LORD corrects those He loves,
just as a father corrects a child in whom He delights.
Proverbs 3:11-12
We often associate discipline with punishment. We grew up in homes where sometimes discipline was fair and sometimes discipline could be harsh.
Regardless of how our earthly parents disciplined us, God disciplines to teach and train us.
As we follow Jesus, sometimes we need to be trained, and it can be painful.
God cares enough about us to want the best for us. His best means pruning, or consequences to our sins, when needed.
Don’t we learn so much faster when we have to face the consequences of our own folly?
As Christians we have all had times when we experience the chastisement of the Lord.
I love the example of Psalm 23 and I have done a study on that portion of scripture while going through some hard discipline.
The words “For you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me..” in Psalm 23 verse 4, are beautiful to me.
There was a time in my life where I needed God’s rod of correction and indeed it brought comfort.
What about you? Have you experienced that?
Another beautiful line from Psalm 23 in connection to correction is the statement, “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”
That is the purpose of God’s correction for any of us. He wants us to stay on the path of His choosing.
So the rebuke and reproofs profit us immensely as we allow them to lead us forward with God for His glory.
And just like stubborn sheep, God puts His rod around our necks and brings us back to the fold. What a beautiful picture.
In Hebrews 12 verse 11 we read, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Isn’t that the truth?
God’s discipline trains us and produces a harvest of righteousness if we let it.
We should not run from God nor His training us in the right ways of living, but we should welcome it.
But when I think back to how my father corrected me, I never really welcomed it. But I accepted it and knew it was necessary.
In the end we learned from it too and I would hate to think where I would be now without that guiding earthly hand, though not perfect, loving.
So let us reflect on that for today.
God loves us enough to care for our souls.
He loves us enough to steer us with His rod and staff back onto the pathway of right living.
God’s discipline weeds out what is earthly in us; stubbornness, pride, coveting, fear, greed, and so forth.
So let us run the race with perseverance and look back in gratitude for God’s loving discipline.